| People v Roberson |
| 2006 NY Slip Op 00036 [25 AD3d 339] |
| January 3, 2006 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Keith Roberson, Appellant. |
—[*1]
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol Berkman, J.), rendered March 6, 2003, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of three years to life, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant is not entitled, pursuant to the amelioration doctrine of People v Behlog (74 NY2d 237 [1989]), to the benefit of the reduced penalty contained in the Drug Law Reform Act (L 2004, ch 738), because the Legislature has expressly stated that the provision upon which defendant relies applies only to crimes committed after its effective date (People v Nelson, 21 AD3d 861 [2005]). In any event, the amelioration doctrine does not apply where, as here, a defendant was sentenced before the new law's effective date (People v Walker, 81 NY2d 661, 666-667 [1993]). Concur—Tom, J.P., Andrias, Gonzalez and Sweeny, JJ.