New York Laws
Article 340 - Pre-Trail Proceedings
340.20 - The Plea.

(a) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), a plea to an
information must be entered orally by the defendant in person unless the
court permits entry thereof by counsel upon the filing by him of a
written and subscribed statement by the defendant declaring that he
waives his right to plead to the information in person and authorizing
his attorney to enter a plea on his behalf as set forth in the
authorization.
(b) If the only offense or offenses charged are traffic infractions,
the procedure provided in sections eighteen hundred five, eighteen
hundred six and eighteen hundred seven of the vehicle and traffic law,
relating to pleas in such cases, is, when appropriate, applicable and
controlling.
3. A plea to an information against a corporation must be entered by
counsel.
4. When a sentence is agreed upon by the prosecutor and a defendant as
a predicate to entry of a plea of guilty, the court or the prosecutor
must orally on the record, or in writing filed with the court, state the
sentence agreed upon as a condition of such plea.