PRESS RELEASE
TO: All News Media
From: D. Holley
Carnright, District Attorney
Dated: June 19, 2015
__________________________________________________________
Yesterday, in five separate rulings, the Appellate Division
Third Department affirmed judgments of convictions in the following Ulster
County felony prosecutions:
People v. Rashan Mitchell
Rashan Mitchell was convicted on August 3, 2012 of the
crimes of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a class B
violent felony and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the third Degree, a class
D violent felony following a jury trial in the Ulster County Court.
Defendant’s conviction stems from an incident which occurred
in the City of Kingston on August 16, 2011.
Following an active police chase, a loaded revolver was found lying
beneath defendant on the ground when he was apprehended by police who had been
surveilling an illegal drug transaction.
Mitchell, was subsequently sentenced by County Court Judge
Donald Williams to the maximum term of imprisonment of fifteen years to be
followed by five years of post release supervision on his conviction of
Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and to a concurrent term
of seven years with five years of post release supervision on his Criminal
Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree conviction.
On appeal, defendant challenged the constitutionality of
both sections of the Penal Law under which he was charged and argued that some
of the prosecutor’s remarks on summation were improper and deprived him of a
fair trial. In addition, the defense
claimed that County Court improperly denied his motion to
suppress and his request for substitute counsel and that the fifteen year
sentence imposed by the court was not only unduly harsh and excessive but a demonstration
of the Judge’s personal bias and animosity towards him. All of these claims were, however, rejected
by the Appellate Division Third Department.
On appeal, defendant is represented by Neal D. Futerfas,
Esq., White Plains, New York. Assistant
District Attorney Joan Gudesblatt Lamb handled the appeal for the District
Attorney’s Office.
People v. Quasim Henry
Quasim Henry was convicted on April 4, 2013, following a
jury trial in the Ulster County Court (Williams,J.) of the crimes of Criminal
Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a
Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree, class B and C felonies. The defendant was arrested on July 23, 2012,
in the City of Kingston in a “buy and bust” operation following his sale of
crack cocaine to a confidential informant working with police.
On appeal the defendant challenged the weight of the
evidence against him at trial. This contention, along with his other claims,
including that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel as a result of
counsel’s strategic decision to reference defendant’s prior conviction for
cocaine possession in his opening statement, were all found to be without
merit.
Defendant, a prior felony offender, was subsequently
sentenced to an aggregate prison term of eight years followed by three years of
postrelease supervision.
On appeal, defendant is represented by Mitch Kessler, Esq.
of Cohoes, New York. Assistant District
Attorney Paul Derohannesian handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s
office.
People v. Gregory Lee
Following a jury trial on December 14, 2011 in Ulster County
Court Gregory Lee was convicted of two counts each of Criminal Sale of a
Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Criminal possession of a
Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, both class B felonies. The charges stem from defendant’s April 2011 arrest for possessing and selling
heroin and cocaine in the Town of Saugerties.
Defendant was sentenced as a second felony offender to an aggregate
prison term of eighteen years to be followed by three years of postrelease
supervision.
On appeal to the Appellate Division Third Department,
defendant argued that he was denied a fair trial by the Judge’s failure to
disqualify himself from presiding over the trial. Defendant based his motion for recusal on the
fact that Judge Williams had been the District Attorney in 2005 when defendant
was prosecuted by his office on a similar drug-related charge. Defendant also maintained that his
convictions were not supported by legally sufficient evidence, were against the
weight of the evidence and that the Court made a number of erroneous rulings
during the course of the trial which deprived him of a fair trial and abused
its sentencing discretion.
The Appellate Division Third Department rejected each
of defendant’s claims.
On appeal, defendant is represented by Salvatore Adamo, Esq.
of Albany, New York. Assistant District
Attorney Carly Wolfrom handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
People v. Marcus Jackson
Marcus Jackson was convicted on October 22, 2013 of the
crime of Rape in the third Degree, a class E felony following a guilty plea in
the Ulster County Court. (Williams, J.) during which he admitted that he had
sexual intercourse with a 15 year old girl when he was 22 years of age. Defendant was subsequently sentenced by
County Court to a determinate term of two years to be followed by ten years of
postrelease supervision.
Although the defendant waived his right to appeal at the
time he entered his plea, on appeal, he argued that his waiver of appeal was
neither knowing, voluntary or intelligent.
After reviewing the record, however, the Third Department concluded that
County Court had carefully explained the waiver to the defendant, that he also
discussed it with his attorney and that it was valid in all respects. Defendant also argued that County Court’s
imposition of a determinate state prison term of two years to be following by
10 years of postrelease supervision was unduly harsh and excessive, that the
indictment was duplicitous and that County Court should have waived the
mandatory fees and surcharges because payment will cause him undue hardship. The Appellate Division Third Department rejected
each of those claims.
On appeal, defendant is represented by John Ferrara, Esq.,
Monticello, New York. Assistant District
Attorney Joan Gudesblatt Lamb handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s
Office.
People v. Khari Coley
Defendant was convicted on February 15, 2013 upon a jury
verdict in the Ulster County Court (Williams, J.) of three counts of Robbery in the Second
Degree, a class C violent felony.
Defendant’s conviction stems from an incident which occurred
on March 27, 2012 when he and an accomplice robbed a delivery person for a
Chinese restaurant, by brandishing what appeared to be a handgun. When questioned by police, after he was
apprehended, defendant admitted that on the night of the robbery he possessed a
BB gun which police found in the same closet where defendant had been hiding.
The defendant, a second felony offender, was subsequently
sentenced by County Court Judge Donald A. Williams to an aggregate prison term
of fifteen years, with five years of postrelease supervision.
Defendant argued at the Appellate Division that the court’s
ruling concerning the pretrial suppression of evidence was erroneous and that
he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. The Appellate Division
rejected those arguments.
On appeal, defendant is represented by Salvatore Adamo, Esq.
of Albany, New York. Former Assistant
District Attorney Joshua Povill, Esq. of Mt. Kisco, New York handled the appeal
for the District Attorney’s Office.
