People of the State of New York v. A.Y.
Attorneys and Parties
Brief Summary
Criminal procedure and sentencing: validity of appeal waiver, suppression of firearm based on reasonable suspicion and flight, adjournment to raise a Second Amendment challenge after Bruen, and mandatory surcharges/fees for youthful offenders.
Supreme Court, Bronx County accepted A.Y.’s guilty pleas to two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of third-degree robbery, adjudicated him a youthful offender on the 2019 weapon case, denied suppression, denied an adjournment to consider a Second Amendment motion, imposed mandatory surcharges/fees, and sentenced him to an aggregate five-year term.
Only the surcharges and fees were vacated—by law for the youthful-offender adjudication and, in the interest of justice, for the remaining convictions. All other aspects, including the convictions, suppression ruling, and sentence length, were affirmed.
The statutory provisions authorizing mandatory surcharges and crime victim assistance fees for youthful offenders had been repealed effective August 24, 2020 (L 2020, ch 144, §§ 3–4 [repeal eliminating authorization to impose mandatory surcharges and crime victim assistance fees on youthful offenders]; former Penal Law §§ 60.02(3); 60.35(10) [former provisions authorizing such surcharges/fees]), so the court lacked authority to impose them on the youthful-offender case; the Appellate Division exercised its interest-of-justice power to vacate them on the remaining convictions. A valid appeal waiver foreclosed review of the sentence excessiveness and suppression claims; on the merits, officers had reasonable suspicion based on specific observations and flight, making the firearm admissible. The denial of a brief adjournment to consider a Bruen-based motion was not an abuse of discretion because the issue could have been raised earlier.
Background
Plainclothes officers observed A.Y. on a hot summer night wearing a hooded sweatshirt with a weighted pocket he repeatedly adjusted. They watched him travel from an area associated with the Bloods to a building known as a Crips hangout. He crouched behind a car to observe a group, crossed the street, and reached into his pocket toward the heavy object. Believing he was about to commit a shooting, officers pulled up, identified themselves, and told him to hold up; A.Y. immediately fled and discarded a gun. He later pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in a 2019 indictment (receiving a youthful-offender adjudication), second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in a 2022 indictment, and third-degree robbery in a separate 2022 indictment. The court imposed an aggregate five-year sentence and assessed surcharges and fees.
Lower Court Decision
The trial court denied suppression, finding the police pursuit and detention justified and the firearm admissible. At sentencing, it denied a two-week adjournment to consider filing a Second Amendment motion in light of New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen, and imposed mandatory surcharges and crime victim assistance fees, along with an aggregate five-year term.
Appellate Division Reversal
Modified only to vacate all surcharges and fees—by law for the youthful-offender adjudication and, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, for the remaining convictions—and otherwise affirmed. The court enforced the appeal waiver against the excessive-sentence and suppression challenges, and alternatively held that reasonable suspicion and flight justified the pursuit and seizure, rendering the discarded firearm admissible. The denial of an adjournment to consider a Bruen-based motion was not an abuse of discretion.
Legal Significance
Reaffirms that a valid appeal waiver forecloses appellate review of excessive-sentence and suppression claims; confirms that reasonable suspicion may be supported by the totality of circumstances, including gang-territory context, weather-incongruent clothing with a weighted pocket, furtive conduct, and immediate flight. Clarifies that after L 2020, ch 144, §§ 3–4, youthful offenders sentenced post–August 24, 2020 cannot be assessed mandatory surcharges/fees, and that appellate courts may vacate such assessments on other convictions in the interest of justice. Also signals that post-Bruen Second Amendment challenges must be timely raised and that late-stage adjournment requests may be denied absent good cause.
Convictions and sentence were affirmed; the gun was admissible based on reasonable suspicion heightened by flight; a valid appeal waiver barred review of sentence and suppression; no abuse in denying a late Bruen-based adjournment; all surcharges and fees were vacated, including for the youthful-offender adjudication by operation of law and for the remaining convictions in the interest of justice.