People v D.M.

Holding The court affirmed the conviction but vacated the mandatory surcharge and crime victim assistance fee because the defendant was sentenced after the legislature repealed the statutory provisions authorizing such fees for youthful offenders. The court further held that the omission of a specific element during the plea allocution and the sequencing of trial rights discussions did not render the guilty plea invalid.

The court’s words

an allocution based on a negotiated plea need not elicit from a defendant specific admissions as to each element of the charged crime

2026 NY Slip Op 06212, at the official text

clearly understood the nature of the charges to which he was pleading and willingly entered his plea to obtain the benefit of the bargain he had struck

2026 NY Slip Op 06212, at the official text

there is no reasonable basis for concluding that the court's sequencing of the aspects of the guilty plea undermined its voluntariness

2026 NY Slip Op 06212, at the official text

defendant was sentenced after the legislature repealed the statutory provisions authorizing imposition of a mandatory surcharge and other fees on youthful offenders

2026 NY Slip Op 06212, at the official text