People ex rel. Ferguson v. Campbell
| Decision Date | 24 September 1992 |
| Citation | 587 N.Y.S.2d 798,186 A.D.2d 319 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of New York ex rel. Harold FERGUSON, Appellant, v. James CAMPBELL, as Sheriff of Albany County, Respondent. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Harold Ferguson, in pro. per.
Sol Greenberg, Dist. Atty. (George H. Barber, of counsel), Albany, for respondent.
Before MIKOLL, J.P., and LEVINE, MAHONEY, CASEY and HARVEY, JJ.
Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Harris, J.), entered April 7, 1991 in Albany County, which dismissed petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 70, after a hearing.
The basis for petitioner's habeas corpus application was the alleged failure of the People to be ready for trial within the time limitations of CPL 30.30(2)(a) and the allegedly excessive amount of his bail. Given that the specific relief requested by petitioner was release on reduced bail or on his own recognizance, his subsequent guilty plea has rendered this appeal moot (see, People ex rel. Griffin v. Warden, Brooklyn House of Detention for Men, 40 A.D.2d 859, 337 N.Y.S.2d 804). Were we to consider the merits, we would find that petitioner's criminal record, the serious nature of the offense and the potential sentence involved establish a constitutionally rational basis for the original bail determination (see, People v. Wolcott, 111 A.D.2d 943, 490 N.Y.S.2d 40). Further, petitioner concedes that the People made a timely announcement of readiness and nothing in the record supports petitioner's conclusory allegations that the People had made that announcement in bad faith or that the People were not continuously ready for trial (see, People v. McCann, 149 A.D.2d 814, 540 N.Y.S.2d 341, lv. denied 74 N.Y.2d 743, 747, 545 N.Y.S.2d 118, 543 N.E.2d 761). Finally, in view of the relative simplicity of petitioner's contentions, their lack of merit and petitioner's indication that he did not want legal representation, it cannot be said that Supreme Court abused its discretion in failing to assign counsel (see, People ex rel. Williams v. La Vallee, 19 N.Y.2d 238, 279 N.Y.S.2d 1, 225 N.E.2d 735).
ORDERED that the appeal is dismissed, as moot, without costs.
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