People v Valentin

People v Valentin 2009 NY Slip Op 05648 [64 AD3d 802] July 2, 2009 Appellate Division, Third Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v George Valentin, Appellant.

—[*1] James P. Ferrari, Cooperstown, for appellant.

Gerald F. Mollen, District Attorney, Binghamton (Benjamin K. Bergman of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Broome County (Smith, J.), rendered October 12, 2006, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of assault in the first degree.

In response to charges that defendant shook his four-month-old son on several occasions and struck him in the head resulting in a hematoma to the right side of the brain and bilateral retinal hemorrhaging, defendant pleaded guilty to assault in the first degree in satisfaction of a five-count indictment. County Court sentenced defendant in accordance with his plea agreement to a term of imprisonment of 12 years, followed by five years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals.

The sole contention advanced by defendant is that his sentence was harsh and excessive. We disagree. Despite his apparent remorse, we note the reprehensible nature of defendant's crime against a helpless infant and, thus, we find that County Court did not abuse its discretion nor do extraordinary circumstances exist to warrant a reduction in defendant's lawful, agreed-upon sentence (see People v Esposito, 53 AD3d 854 [2008]; People v Reed, 46 AD3d 1221, 1222 [2007]).

Mercure, J.P., Spain, Lahtinen, Kavanagh and McCarthy, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.