The People of the State of New York v. George McTaggart
Attorneys and Parties
Brief Summary
Criminal law—sentencing (surcharges, fees, and postrelease supervision (PRS))
Upon a guilty plea to first-degree robbery, the Supreme Court, New York County, imposed a five-year prison term, five years of postrelease supervision, and mandatory surcharge and fees.
The surcharge and fees imposed at sentencing were vacated.
Exercising its discretionary interest-of-justice powers and consistent with People v. Chirinos (190 AD3d 434 [1st Dept 2021]); the People did not oppose the relief.
Background
Defendant George McTaggart pled guilty to robbery in the first degree and received a determinate sentence of five years’ imprisonment, followed by five years of postrelease supervision (PRS), along with a mandatory surcharge and fees. On appeal, he sought relief from aspects of the sentence, including financial penalties and the PRS term.
Lower Court Decision
The Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), on May 4, 2022, convicted the defendant on his guilty plea to first-degree robbery and imposed a five-year determinate term, five years of PRS, and the mandatory surcharge and fees.
Appellate Division Reversal
The Appellate Division modified the judgment by vacating the surcharge and fees in the interest of justice, citing People v. Chirinos, and otherwise affirmed, expressly declining to reduce the five-year period of PRS.
Legal Significance
The decision reaffirms the Appellate Division, First Department’s willingness to use its interest-of-justice authority to vacate financial penalties, particularly where unopposed, while signaling that statutory PRS terms or standard PRS periods imposed on violent felonies will not be disturbed absent a compelling basis.
On appeal, surcharges and fees may be vacated in the interest of justice, but a five-year PRS term for a serious violent felony will generally be left intact absent special circumstances.