The respondent in the matter is the People of the State of New York. The appellant of the case is Edwin W. Jones. The case is being heard in the Second Department, Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
A New York Criminal Lawyer said this is a case of appeal made by the defendant in regard to a judgment that was made by Judge Kahn in the county court of Suffolk County. The judgment was made on the fifth of January, 2006. The defendant, Edwin W. Jones, was convicted of manslaughter in the second degree, leaving an incident scene without reporting the incident, and operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs.
The defendant pled guilty to the charges and the imposing sentence.
Appeal by Defendant
The defendant is appealing the ruling in the case on the basis that he was not knowledgeable about the plea that he made. He states that the plea was not intelligently or voluntarily entered on his behalf.
Case Discussion and Decision
In this particular matter, the defendant may not appeal his initial plea. The defendant did not ever motion or move to have his plea withdrawn in the case. For this reason he is not eligible for appealing the verdict or judgment in the case.
There are exceptions to this particular rule. A Bronx Criminal Lawyer said the exception included any facts that are found in the underlying crime that the defendant has pled guilty to that will cast significant doubt on the guilt of the defendant or otherwise calls into question if the plea was in fact made voluntarily.
In this particular case there is no evidence to support that the defendant is not guilty of this crime. In addition, he offers no support to show that he was somehow forced into making the guilty plea.
The facts of the case remain that the defendant did cause the victims of the accident to die by taking a drug that impaired his ability to drive a motor vehicle. He did cause the accident in question that resulted in the death of the victims. There is no question of this. In addition, the defendant chose to leave the scene of the accident, which may have resulted in the death of the victims as help took longer to reach them because he failed to report the accident.
After reviewing all of the facts that have been provided in the case, the court is denying the appeal being made by the defendant. The original judgment will stand. All of the remaining contentions that have been made by the defendant are without merit as well.
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