PEOPLE v. MARTINEZ

The defendant was sentenced to the statutory minimum by the sentencing court. While a sentence within statutory limits is ordinarily not a cruel and unusual punishment (People v. Jones, 39 N.Y.2d 694, 697), "in some rare case[s]" the statute can be unconstitutionally applied (People v. Broadie, 37 N.Y.2d 100, 119, cert denied 423 U.S. 950). Although defendant received the minimum sentence permitted by the statute, we find that the statute was unconstitutionally applied and we reduce the sentence accordingly, to 2 to 4 years, to avoid cruel and unusual punishment in the circumstances (People v. Skeffery, 188 A.D.2d 438).

Concur — Murphy, P.J., Carro, Rosenberger and Ross, JJ.