People v Burton

Holding The court affirmed the conviction and sentence, rejecting the defendant’s claim that a minor overstatement of his maximum potential penalty rendered his guilty plea involuntary. However, the court vacated the surcharges and fees imposed at sentencing as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice.

The court’s words

an overstatement of the maximum potential penalty is "not necessarily dispositive," and a court must consider the significance of such misinformation

2026 NY Slip Op 06027, at the official text

nothing in the record supports the inference that the approximately 23-year-old defendant, who opted for a guilty plea to the minimum sentence, when the likely alternative was incarceration until he was 95 years old, would have proceeded to trial if he believed that if he lost, his incarceration could conclude when he was 88 years old

2026 NY Slip Op 06027, at the official text

Based on our own interest of justice powers and the People's consent, we vacate the surcharge and fees imposed at sentencing

2026 NY Slip Op 06027, at the official text