People v Smith
2026 NY Slip Op 03121 [249 AD3d 553]
May 19, 2026
Appellate Division, First Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, July 8, 2026
The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Roderick Smith, Appellant.
May 19, 2026
HEADNOTES
Crimes — Indictment — Validity of Waivers
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL
Jenay Nurse Guilford, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (David J. Klem of counsel), for appellant.
Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Michael D. Tarbutton of counsel), for respondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Juan Merchan, J.), rendered July 10, 2024, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted robbery in the second degree and robbery in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender on the attempted robbery in the second degree count, and as a second felony offender on the robbery in the third degree count, to concurrent terms of five years and 2 to 4 years, respectively, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant's waivers of indictment were valid. While the plea minutes contain no specific reference to written waivers, the record as a whole demonstrates that defendant signed them "in open court in the presence of his attorney" (CPL 195.20; see People v Thompson, 234 AD3d 418, 418-419 [1st Dept 2025], lv denied 43 NY3d 947 [2025]; People v Mora, 227 AD3d 553, 553 [1st Dept 2024], lv denied 42 NY3d 929 [2024]).
Defendant's argument that one of the waivers was defective because it charged an offense not included in the underlying felony complaint is based on an incomplete reading of that felony complaint. In fact, the allegation in the waiver of indictment that defendant committed second-degree robbery on May 12, 2021, corresponded to a materially identical charge in the felony complaint (see People v Pierce, 14 NY3d 564, 571 [2010]). Concur—Moulton, J.P., Scarpulla, Kapnick, Shulman, Michael, JJ.