PEOPLE v. RIVAS GRULLON (2024)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Robert M. Mandelbaum, J.), rendered January 13, 2023, as amended March 13, 2023, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of robbery in the first degree, and sentencing him to a term of 18 years, to run concurrently with the sentence imposed under Indictment No. 408/19, unanimously modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, to the extent of reducing the sentence to a term of 10 years followed by five years of post-release supervision, and otherwise affirmed.

It was within the discretion of the Supreme Court to impose an enhanced sentence based on defendant's violation of the plea agreement, which required him to cooperate with the Department of Probation and to appear for court.  The court conducted a sufficient inquiry (see People v. Outley, 80 N.Y.2d 702, 594 N.Y.S.2d 683, 610 N.E.2d 356 [1993]), and the record supports the court's findings that defendant refused to be interviewed for his presentence report and refused to be produced for sentencing.

While we do not find an abuse of discretion by Supreme Court, under the facts presented, including defendant's intellectual and mental deficiencies, we conclude that the sentence should be reduced in the interest of justice to the extent indicated, thus comporting with the originally promised sentence at the plea proceeding (People v. Watt, 189 A.D.3d 637, 638, 137 N.Y.S.3d 37 [1st Dept. 2020]).