People ex rel. Piazza v Cunningham

People ex rel. Piazza v Cunningham 2010 NY Slip Op 06266 [75 AD3d 1021] July 29, 2010 Appellate Division, Third Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The People of the State of New York ex rel. Daniel Piazza, Appellant, v Raymond Cunningham, as Superintendent of Woodbourne Correctional Facility, Respondent.

—[*1] Daniel Piazza, Woodbourne, appellant pro se.

Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General, New York City (Patrick Walsh of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (LaBuda, J.), entered June 26, 2009 in Sullivan County, which dismissed petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 70, without a hearing.

Petitioner was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree in 1999 and was sentenced to a prison term of 12½ to 25 years. He thereafter commenced this CPLR article 70 proceeding seeking a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that the documentation purporting to authorize his sentence is insufficient. Supreme Court dismissed the application, and petitioner now appeals.

We affirm. Initially, we note that habeas corpus relief is not available where petitioner could have raised this argument by way of a CPL article 440 motion or on direct appeal (see People ex rel. Brown v Artus, 64 AD3d 1064, 1064 [2009], lv denied 13 NY3d 709 [2009]; People ex rel. Woodard v Lape, 58 AD3d 903, 904 [2009], lv denied 12 NY3d 706 [2009]). In any event, the "sentence and order of commitment" form contained in the record establishes that a valid judgment of conviction was entered and satisfies the statutory requirements (see CPL 380.60; People ex rel. Haynes v Artus, 51 AD3d 1075 [2008]). [*2]

Mercure, J.P., Rose, Lahtinen, Kavanagh and Garry, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.