Failure of a Court to Advise About Post-release Supervision in New York

In People v. Catu, 4 NY3d 242, 245, 825 N.E.2d 1081, 792 N.Y.S.2d 887 (2005), the Court of Appeals held that "a defendant pleading guilty to a determinate sentence must be aware of the postrelease supervision component of that sentence in order to knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently choose among alternative courses of action, the failure of a court to advise of postrelease supervision requires reversal of the conviction." The failure of a court to advise the defendant during the plea that the promised sentence included a term of post-release supervision renders the guilty plea involuntary since it deprived the defendant of information necessary to make an informed decision. (People v. Catu, 4 NY3d at 245.) "Due process requires that the record must be clear that the plea represents a voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternative courses of action open to the defendant." (People v. Catu, 4 NY3d at 245.)