People v. Santiago

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol Berkman, J.), rendered November 9, 2011, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him to a term of 30 days, unanimously affirmed.

Since defendant did not move to withdraw his plea, there was nothing to require the court to conduct a sua sponte inquiry into whether the plea’s voluntariness had been impaired by inadequate advice by counsel concerning its deportation consequences. At sentencing, defense counsel indicated that there was an issue under Padilla v Kentucky (559 US 356 [2010]), but expressly stated that this issue would be the subject of “another motion for another proceeding.” Accordingly, there was no challenge to the voluntariness of the plea, and no application for the court to rule upon. In any event, we note that the plea was taken in 1987, and that sentencing was delayed for over 24 years because of defendant’s failure to appear. There is nothing in the record to suggest that the plea was involuntary, or that defendant has a valid Padilla claim.