PEOPLE v. BROWN (2008)

On appeal from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty of rape in the third degree (Penal Law § 130.25[2] ), defendant contends that County Court erred in refusing to suppress his statements to the police on the ground that he was falsely informed that he would be charged with rape in the first degree.   We reject that contention.   The victim had accused defendant of forcibly raping her and, indeed, the charge of rape in the first degree was presented to the grand jury.   In any event, even assuming, arguendo, that the police knew that defendant was unlikely to be charged with rape in the first degree, we cannot conclude “that the deception induced defendant to make a false confession, nor was it so fundamentally unfair as to deny defendant his right to due process” (People v. Burke, 20 A.D.3d 932, 933, 798 N.Y.S.2d 291, lv. denied 5 N.Y.3d 826, 804 N.Y.S.2d 41, 837 N.E.2d 740;  see People v. Tarsia, 50 N.Y.2d 1, 11, 427 N.Y.S.2d 944, 405 N.E.2d 188;   People v. Jordan, 193 A.D.2d 890, 892, 597 N.Y.S.2d 807, lv. denied 82 N.Y.2d 756, 603 N.Y.S.2d 997, 624 N.E.2d 183).

It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.

MEMORANDUM: