People v. Bouyea, 6 N.Y.3d 91 (2005)
A defendant can waive the right to receive a predicate felony statement and to challenge predicate felony allegations if information before the sentencing court establishes a prior felony conviction within the statutorily required timeframe.
Summary
Defendant Bouyea, incarcerated for rape and robbery, was arrested for possessing a shank. He pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon, agreeing to be sentenced as a second felony offender. The prosecution failed to provide a predicate felony statement at sentencing, but Bouyea waived the statement and declined to contest his prior felonies. The Court of Appeals affirmed the sentence, holding that because the sentencing court had information establishing a prior felony conviction within the statutory timeframe, Bouyea’s waiver was valid.
Facts
Defendant was serving a 20-year sentence for first-degree rape and first-degree robbery at Wende Correctional Facility.
He was arrested for possessing a “shank” (a homemade weapon) while incarcerated.
Defendant was indicted for promoting prison contraband and criminal possession of a weapon.
He pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree in satisfaction of the indictment and agreed to be sentenced as a second felony offender.
Procedural History
Defendant pleaded guilty in the trial court.
The People failed to submit a predicate felony statement to the sentencing judge as required by CPL 400.21(2).
Defendant waived receipt of the statement and declined to contest his predicate felonies.
The trial court sentenced him as a second felony offender.
The Appellate Division affirmed the sentence.
The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the Appellate Division’s order.
Issue(s)
Whether a defendant’s waiver of the right to receive a predicate felony statement and to controvert its allegations is valid when information before the sentencing court establishes that the defendant was convicted of a predicate felony within the time required by Penal Law § 70.06.
Holding
Yes, because information before the sentencing court established that defendant had been convicted of a known and identified felony within the time required by the statute, his waiver of his rights to receive a predicate felony statement and to controvert its allegations was valid.
Court’s Reasoning
The Court of Appeals emphasized that to be sentenced as a second felony offender, a defendant must have been convicted of a predicate felony, as defined in Penal Law § 70.06(1)(b)(i), within 10 years of the commission of the present felony, subject to tolling for periods of incarceration, according to Penal Law § 70.06(1)(b)(iv), (v).
The court reasoned that because the sentencing court had information establishing that Bouyea had a prior felony conviction within the statutory timeframe, his waiver of his rights was valid.
The court relied on the fact that Bouyea had the opportunity to challenge his prior felony convictions, but he expressly waived that right. The court implicitly determined that the purpose of CPL 400.21(2) and (3)—to ensure the defendant is properly informed and has the opportunity to challenge the predicate felony—was satisfied here because the court independently possessed sufficient information.
The court concluded, “Because information before the sentencing court established that defendant had been convicted of a known and identified felony within the time required by the statute, his waiver of his rights to receive a predicate felony statement and to controvert its allegations was valid.”