PEOPLE v. RAMOS (2026)

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Albert Lorenzo, J.), rendered on November 1, 2022, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentencing him to a jail term of six months and five years of probation, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant validly waived his right to appeal, since “the totality of the circumstances reveals that [he] understood the nature of the appellate rights being waived” (People v. Thomas, 34 N.Y.3d 545, 559, 122 N.Y.S.3d 226, 144 N.E.3d 970 [2019], cert denied 589 U.S. 1302, 140 S.Ct. 2634, 206 L.Ed.2d 512 [2020]).  Nevertheless, his facial constitutional challenge to New York's firearms licensing scheme premised on (New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1, 142 S.Ct. 2111, 213 L.Ed.2d 387 [2022]) survives the waiver (see People v. Johnson, ––– N.Y.3d ––––, ––– N.Y.S.3d ––––, ––– N.E.3d ––––, 2025 N.Y. Slip Op. 06528, *2 [2025]).  In any event, defendant has failed to establish that his indictment was unconstitutional, since only the “proper cause” requirement, which was severable, was the subject of Bruen, which struck it down, and the remainder of the statutory scheme still stands (id.).

As for defendant's constitutional claim concerning the licensing fees associated with the required license, we find that defendant has failed to establish that the fee requirement is unconstitutional since he has not shown that the fees were exorbitant or designed to prevent gun ownership (see Mills v. N.Y.C., 758 F.Supp.3d 250, 267 [S.D.N.Y. 2004]).