After an incident which involved attempted oral sexual contact with a minor, Jack Nash pled guilty to attempted criminal sexual act in the first degree and was sentenced by the County Court of Rensselaer County to a seven year prison term with three years of post-release supervision.
Although he waived his right to appeal, Nash contended that the plea wasn't voluntary because he hadn't been told of the long-term implications of being registered as a sex offender.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Third Department, explained that while Nash's challenge to the voluntariness of his plea survived the waiver, the "consent" component of his claim hadn't been preserved for appellate review.
Had it been properly before the court, the AD3 noted that it would have found the argument meritless, as Nash had been advised prior to his plea that he would be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
And even if his contentions were true, since Nash conceded guilt and registration under the Sex Offender Registration Act was a "collateral consequence" of that plea, the court didn't believe that any error impinged upon the voluntariness of his decision.
With that, all hopes for Nash were dashed.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Nash