People v Waters
2026 NY Slip Op 02138
April 8, 2026
Appellate Division, Second Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This decision is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.
The People of the State of New York, respondent,
v
Kareem Waters, appellant.
Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department
Decided on April 8, 2026
2024-00978, (Ind. No. 2046/20)
Betsy Barros, J.P.
Cheryl E. Chambers
Janice A. Taylor
Elena Goldberg Velazquez, JJ.
Patricia Pazner, New York, NY (Christiana Johnson of counsel), for appellant.
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY (Leonard Joblove and Daniel Berman of counsel), for respondent.
DECISION & ORDER
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Danny K. Chun, J.), rendered January 17, 2024, convicting him of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence.
ORDERED that the judgment is modified, on the law and as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, by vacating the imposition of a mandatory surcharge and fees; as so modified, the judgment, as amended, is affirmed.
"Criminal Procedure Law § 420.35(2-a) permits the waiver of surcharges and fees for individuals, like the defendant, who were less than 21 years old at the time of the subject crime" (People v Dillon H., 229 AD3d 722, 723 [internal quotation marks omitted]). Pursuant to the exercise of our interest of justice jurisdiction, and as consented to by the People, we modify the judgment, by vacating the mandatory surcharge and fees imposed upon the defendant at sentencing (see CPL 420.35[2-a][c]; People v Harris, ___ AD3d ___, 2026 NY Slip Op 01223, *1; People v Dillon H., 229 AD3d at 723).
BARROS, J.P., CHAMBERS, TAYLOR and GOLDBERG VELAZQUEZ, JJ., concur.
ENTER:
Darrell M. Joseph
Clerk of the Court