An appeals court has vacated the 2020 sentence of a former Jamestown man who was convicted of first-degree rape and first-degree criminal sex acts.

Dennis Park, 39, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in March 2020 as part of an agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys, though County Court Judge David Foley told Park during sentencing that he should have “probably got more” in terms of his sentence when considering the case and a prior conviction. The guilty pleas were entered shortly before Park was set to go to trial for a second time in December 2019 after a mistrial was declared in Park’s first case.

Foley was right – and now will get the opportunity to impose a new sentence or to hear the case against Park if the former Jamestown resident chooses to withdraw his guilty plea. Foley said in 2020 he was “persuaded” to commit to the current sentence because the court “did not want to put the victims through another trial.”

Attorneys for the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo represented Park in his appeal, which was heard recently by the Fourth Department Appellate Division. One of the arguments made by Park’s attorneys was that his sentencing promise was based on an illegal minimum term of incarceration, which Park’s attorneys argued meant his guilty plea was invalid.

“Although defendant did not challenge the legality of his sentence before the sentencing court, we cannot allow an illegal sentence to stand,” Judge Nancy Smith wrote in her opinion. “We therefore modify the judgment by vacating the sentence and we remit the matter to County Court to afford defendant the opportunity to either withdraw his plea or be resentenced to the legal term of incarceration on both counts.”

District Attorney Jason Schmidt represented the county before the Fourth Department Appellate Division justices in Rochester, though the original trial and plea agreement came during former District Attorney Patrick Swanson’s time in office.

Park made several appeals to the appeals court, including that he shouldn’t have been prosecuted a second time because of the mistrial in his first trial. The appeals court rejected that claim, reasoning the record didn’t show there was deliberate intent on the part of prosecutors to provoke a mistrial.

Park also argued he was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial, with appellate court judges ruling the motion wasn’t up for review because Park’s attorneys didn’t fail to dismiss the indictment on that ground when Park’s case was being litigated.

“We decline to exercise our power to review the contention as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice,” Smith wrote.

The appeal also claimed Foley erred when the judge denied a motion by Park’s attorney for a severance motion. Appellate Division justices said they couldn’t rule on that part of the appeal because it had been forfeited by Park and his attorneys when they accepted a guilty plea.

The case stems from two incidents in Jamestown in 2018 that happened within six days of each other. One victim claimed the 35-year-old Park “rushed” her in a Jamestown laundromat on July 17, 2018, and forced her at knife-point to perform oral sex. Another woman alleged that Park forced her on July 11, 2018, to provide sexual acts behind a city factory near Chandler Street in exchange for safety.

Foley declared a mistrial in August 2019 after testimony, describing an oral swab that tested positive for human DNA, was given by a forensic analyst in front of the jury. Foley ruled that certain remarks made by the analyst referencing a rape kit from the July 17 incident that was compiled by a different official, a serologist, were hearsay. The guilty plea came as a second trial was about to begin.

Park had also been convicted on a charge of first-degree rape of a 5-year-old girl in an incident that took place Sept. 26, 2002. Park was 17 years old at the time when police alleged he had sexual intercourse with the girl at a home on Second Street. He pleaded guilty in January 2003 to the rape charge and sentenced a month later to seven years in prison. Park was required to register as a Level 3 sex offender following his conviction.