People v Rivera

People v Rivera 2011 NY Slip Op 09008 Decided on December 15, 2011 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

Decided on December 15, 2011
Saxe, J.P., Sweeny, Acosta, DeGrasse, Abdus-Salaam, JJ.
6331 5243/00

[*1]The People of the State of New York, Respondent,

v

Jose Rivera, Defendant-Appellant.




Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Heidi Bota of
counsel), for appellant.
Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Jason S.
Whitehead of counsel), for respondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Laura Safer-Espinoza, J.), rendered June 30, 2009, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him to a term of one to three years, unanimously affirmed.

The court correctly sentenced defendant according to the law in effect in 2000, when the crime was committed. CPL 440.46 deals only with resentencing applications, not the initial imposition of sentence; in any event, that provision did not become effective until October 7, 2009, which was after defendant's sentencing. Since defendant received the minimum sentence permitted by law, we have no authority to reduce that sentence as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice (see CPL 470.20[6]).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.

ENTERED: DECEMBER 15, 2011

CLERK