People v. Iorio

• Decision Date: 12 November 2020
• Docket Number: 110465
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Eric IORIO, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

188 A.D.3d 1352
135 N.Y.S.3d 199

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Eric IORIO, Appellant.

110465

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Calendar Date: October 21, 2020
Decided and Entered: November 12, 2020

Mark A. Diamond, Albany, for appellant.

Meagan K. Galligan, Acting District Attorney, Monticello (Kristin L. Hackett of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Egan Jr., J.P., Mulvey, Aarons, Pritzker and Colangelo, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Aarons, J.

135 N.Y.S.3d 200

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Sullivan County (LaBuda, J.), rendered May 4, 2018, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of burglary in the second degree.

Defendant was indicted and charged with one count of burglary in the second degree. After jury selection had commenced, defendant elected to plead guilty as charged with the understanding that he would be sentenced to a prison term of nine years followed by five years of postrelease supervision. The plea agreement also required defendant to waive his right to appeal. Following defendant's plea, the matter was adjourned for sentencing.

Prior to sentencing, defendant wrote to County Court seeking to withdraw his guilty plea – alleging that he had received the ineffective assistance of counsel and claiming that his plea was coerced. In response, County Court assigned new counsel, who filed a formal motion to withdraw defendant's plea. County Court denied that motion and thereafter sentenced defendant as a second felony offender to the contemplated term of imprisonment. This appeal ensued.

Defendant's assertion that County Court abused its discretion in denying his motion to withdraw his plea, as well as his related claim that the plea itself was involuntary, is unpersuasive. "The decision whether to grant a motion to withdraw a guilty plea rests within the sound discretion of the trial court and, generally, such relief will be permitted only where there is evidence of innocence, fraud or mistake in the inducement" ( People v. Burks, 172 A.D.3d 1640, 1641, 99 N.Y.S.3d 790 [2019] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted], lv denied 33 N.Y.3d 1102, 106 N.Y.S.3d 665, 130 N.E.3d 1275 [2019] ; see People v. Pizarro, 185 A.D.3d 1092, 1093, 126 N.Y.S.3d 800 [2020] ; People v. Harrison, 176 A.D.3d 1262, 1263–1264, 109 N.Y.S.3d 770 [2019], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 1016, 114 N.Y.S.3d 760, 138 N.E.3d 489 [2019] ). In support of his motion, defendant asserted that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, that his plea was coerced by both counsel's conduct and the erroneous information he received regarding his maximum sentencing exposure and that his plea was facially insufficient.

Although County Court did not expressly ask defendant whether he had been afforded sufficient time to confer with counsel, the record reflects that defendant was afforded ample opportunity to consider the various plea offers extended to him. Similarly, defendant assured County Court during the plea colloquy that he had not been coerced into relinquishing his trial rights and that he did in fact wish to plead guilty. Further, advising a defendant of the potential maximum sentence to which he or she may be subject "does not generally amount to coercion or render a plea involuntary" ( People v. LeClair, 182 A.D.3d 919, 920, 120 N.Y.S.3d 884 [2020], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 1067, 129 N.Y.S.3d 403, 152 N.E.3d 1205 [2020] ; see People v. Morelli, 46 A.D.3d 1215, 1216, 847 N.Y.S.2d 789 [2007], lv denied 10 N.Y.3d 814, 857 N.Y.S.2d 47, 886 N.E.2d 812 [2008] ). Moreover, even assuming that defendant was provided with inaccurate information regarding his felony offender status and, hence, his maximum sentencing exposure, any...