| People v Welch |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 07803 [55 AD3d 952] |
| October 16, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v David E. Welch, Appellant. |
—[*1]
Kathleen B. Hogan, District Attorney, Lake George (Kevin P. Donlon of counsel), for
respondent.
Kavanagh, J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Warren County (Hall, Jr., J.), rendered August 1, 2007, which revoked defendant's probation and imposed a sentence of imprisonment.
On May 22, 2002, defendant pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, a class E felony, and was
sentenced to five years of probation. The terms of his probation were amended by consent to require
defendant to sign a drug treatment contract which outlined his obligations, including the requirement that
he "participate diligently" in a drug treatment program, and stipulated that his termination from such a
program would result in the imposition of a prison sentence of 1
Initially, we find no merit to defendant's challenge to the validity of the declaration of delinquency. It was issued in compliance with CPL 410.30 and was based upon information set forth by defendant's probation officer in the violation petition. Furthermore, the petition, amended petition and detailed letter from the People delineating defendant's offending conduct provided defendant with ample notice of the nature of the allegations that had been made against him (see CPL 410.30, 410.70 [2]). The filing of the declaration of delinquency on May 10, 2007—before defendant's period of probation had, in fact, expired—served to toll the period that defendant was required to remain on probation and, as a result, defendant was still on probation when he failed to report to his probation officer on June 4, 2007 (see Penal Law § 65.15 [2]; People v Mills, 45 AD3d 892, 895 [2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 1036 [2008]; People v Shabazz, 12 AD3d 782, 783 [2004]). His failure to timely appear for this appointment with his probation officer constituted a significant violation of the terms of his probation and provided ample support for County Court's decision to terminate probation (see People v Provost, 35 AD3d 899, 900 [2006]; People v Walts, 34 AD3d 1043, 1043 [2006], lv denied 8 NY3d 850 [2007]).[FN*]
However, inasmuch as defendant successfully completed all but 11 days of his five-year probation
term, we find, on these facts, that the imposition of a prison sentence of 1
Cardona, P.J., Peters, Rose and Stein, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, by reducing the sentence imposed to 1 to 3 years, and, as so modified, affirmed, and matter remitted to the County Court of Warren County for further proceedings pursuant to CPL 460.50 (5).