PEOPLE v. LOPEZ (2024)

Judgment of conviction (Ann E. Scherzer, J.), rendered June 28, 2016, modified, on the law, to vacate defendant's conviction for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, to dismiss the count of the accusatory instrument relating thereto, and, if paid, to remit the $200 fine imposed on that conviction, and otherwise affirmed.

As the People now concede, defendant's conviction of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 511[1][a]) must be vacated because the trial evidence was legally insufficient to prove that the defendant knew or had reason to know that his license had been suspended (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 511[1][a]), a required element of the offense.

However, the evidence was legally sufficient to establish defendant's guilt of unlicensed driving (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 509[1]), which offense lacks the element of knowledge that one's license had been suspended or revoked (see People v. Fields, 58 Misc.3d 133[A], 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 51786[U], 2017 WL 6543481 [App. Term, 1st Dept. 2017]; see also People v. Pacer, 6 N.Y.3d 504, 513, 814 N.Y.S.2d 575, 847 N.E.2d 1149 [2006]).

The Driver's License Suspension Reform Act, which amended Vehicle and Traffic Law § 510(4-a) to remove the failure to pay a fine as a basis for the suspension of a driver's license, was enacted after defendant's conviction and does not mandate reversal of the judgment convicting defendant of unlicensed driving (see People v. Pagan, 222 A.D.3d 440, 441, 199 N.Y.S.3d 64 [2023], lv denied 41 N.Y.3d 943, 206 N.Y.S.3d 258, 229 N.E.3d 1151 [2024]). In any event, even if the statute were retroactive, it would not have warranted vacatur of the conviction, in light of defendant's license suspensions that did not result from nonpayment of fines (id.; see People v. Urena, 80 Misc.3d 129[A], 2023 N.Y. Slip Op. 50981[U], 2023 WL 6113157 [App. Term, 1st Dept. 2023], lv denied 40 N.Y.3d 1041, 200 N.Y.S.3d 771, 223 N.E.3d 1247 [2023]).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.

Per Curiam.

All concur