People v Jonas (Romelus)

[*1] People v Jonas (Romelus) 2014 NY Slip Op 50090(U) Decided on January 31, 2014 Appellate Term, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on January 31, 2014
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT
PRESENT: Lowe, III, P.J., Schoenfeld, Shulman, JJ
570574/11.

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, - -

against

Romelus Jean Jonas, Defendant-Appellant.

Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County (John Cataldo, J.H.O.), rendered June 22, 2011, convicting him, upon a plea of guilty, of violating Vehicle and Traffic Law section 319(2), and imposing sentence.

Per Curiam.

Judgment of conviction (John Cataldo, J.H.O.), rendered June 22, 2011, reversed, on the law, accusatory instrument dismissed, and fine remitted.

The plea colloquy underlying defendant's Summons Part conviction is disjointed and largely unintelligible, with substantial portions devolving into a free-for-all marked by the court, defense counsel and defendant interrupting and speaking over one another. We find, and the People concede, that the resultant conviction must be vacated since the unsatisfactory record developed below lacks the requisite "affirmative showing" that defendant understood and waived his Boykin rights (see Boykin v Alabama, 395 US 238 [1969]; People v Tyrell, — NY3d —, 2013 NY Slip Op 08288[2013]).

Given the relatively minor nature of the Vehicle and Traffic Law infraction here charged, we dismiss the accusatory instrument in lieu of ordering a new trial, a disposition unopposed by the People. In light of this disposition, we need not and do not address defendant's remaining points.

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
Decision Date: January 31, 2014