Hearing on predicate felony conviction
§ 220.35 Hearing on predicate felony conviction.
In any case where the defendant offers to enter a plea of guilty of a misdemeanor to constitute a disposition of the entire indictment or to constitute a complete disposition of one or more other indictments, or both, and the permission of the court and the consent of the people must be withheld solely upon the ground that it appears the defendant has previously been subjected to a predicate felony conviction as defined in paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 70.06 of the penal law the court, if the defendant does not admit such predicate felony conviction, may conduct the hearing required by section 400.21 for the purpose of determining whether the plea may be entered or must be rejected. The finding upon any such hearing shall also be binding upon the defendant for the purpose of sentence.
When a defendant offers a misdemeanor plea to dispose of the indictment(s) and the only bar is an alleged predicate felony conviction (Penal § 70.06), the court — if the defendant doesn't admit it — may hold the § 400.21 hearing to decide whether the plea can be entered. That finding also binds the defendant for sentencing. ★
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 3 — The JG-22 Criminal Procedure Law and in Volume 1 — The JG-22 in Plain English.