People v Bell
2008 NY Slip Op 08139 [55 AD3d 846]
October 21, 2008
Appellate Division, Second Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, December 10, 2008


The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Justin A. Bell, Appellant.

[*1] Michael G. Paul, New City, N.Y., for appellant.

Francis D. Phillips II, District Attorney, Goshen, N.Y. (David R. Huey and Daniel M. Reback of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant from a resentence of the County Court, Orange County (DiBella, J.), dated June 22, 2006, in effect, pursuant to the Drug Law Reform Act of 2004 (L 2004, ch 738, § 23), imposed after a hearing, the resentence being a determinate term of 13 years' imprisonment and a period of postrelease supervision of 5 years, upon his conviction of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree (Rosenwasser, J.), upon his plea of guilty.

Ordered that the resentence is modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, by reducing the resentence imposed from a determinate term of 13 years' imprisonment to a determinate term of 12 years' imprisonment; as so modified, the resentence is affirmed.

The defendant was resentenced upon his conviction following his plea of guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree. The defendant pleaded guilty in exchange for a promised sentence of 15 years' to life imprisonment as a second felony offender. At that time, the court promised to resentence the defendant to a determinate term of 12 years' imprisonment and 5 years' postrelease supervision if the defendant moved for resentencing under the Drug Law Reform Act. The defendant moved for resentencing and the court granted the motion. At resentencing, a different Judge imposed a [*2]determinate term of 13 years' imprisonment and 5 years' postrelease supervision.

Upon review of all of the relevant circumstances, including the consent of the People to the relief requested by the defendant, and as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, we determine that substantial justice warrants a reduction of the resentence imposed from a determinate term of 13 years' imprisonment to a determinate term of 12 years' imprisonment (see generally People v Beasley, 47 AD3d 639, 641 [2008]). Spolzino, J.P., Ritter, Dillon, Balkin and Leventhal, JJ., concur.