POUGHKEEPSIE – A state prisoner who was convicted by a Dutchess County Court jury in October 2017 of armed assault and criminal possession of a weapon, has lost the appeal to his court verdict and sentencing.
Devarl Dudley, 51, challenged the county court’s granting of permission for the prosecution to elicit evidence of his prior bad acts. “Here, evidence that the defendant was selling drugs during and before the underlying incident completed the narrative of events, provided necessary background information, and was admissible to establish defendant’s motive to commit the crimes to which he was convicted,” the decision by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled on March 23. It also ruled that “the court gave the jury appropriate limiting instructions, to which defense counsel did not object, as to the limited purpose for which that evidence was received.”
The appellate court also rejected Dudley’s contention that New York’s persistent felony offender scheme is unconstitutional “is unpreserved for appellate review since it was not raised at the sentencing proceeding.”
According to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision website, Dudley is serving a 25 year to life prison term at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville. His earliest release date is October 13, 2041.
