People v. Joe

• Decision Date: 20 November 2018
• Docket Number: Ind. 1879/10,7682
• Citation: 86 N.Y.S.3d 432,166 A.D.3d 514
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Darrell JOE, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

166 A.D.3d 514
86 N.Y.S.3d 432

PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Darrell JOE, Defendant–Appellant.

7682
Ind. 1879/10

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

ENTERED: NOVEMBER 20, 2018

86 N.Y.S.3d 433

Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Sheilah Fernandez, Kew Gardens, of counsel), for appellant.

Darrell Joe, appellant pro se.

Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (Robert McIver of counsel), for respondent.

Sweeny, J.P., Gische, Kapnick, Gesmer, Moulton, JJ.

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Steven L. Barrett, J.), rendered September 22, 2014, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of conspiracy in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 7 to 14 years, unanimously affirmed.

The court providently exercised its discretion in denying defendant's motion to withdraw his plea, and in declining to appoint new counsel. "[T]he nature and extent of the fact-finding procedures on such motions rest largely in the discretion of the court" ( People v. Fiumefreddo, 82 N.Y.2d 536, 544, 605 N.Y.S.2d 671, 626 N.E.2d 646 [1993] ). Here, the parties' written submissions, the plea minutes and the court's recollection of the plea negotiations were sufficient to determine the motion. The allegedly coercive conduct by defense counsel amounted to nothing more

86 N.Y.S.3d 434

than frank advice about the consequences of going to trial (see e. g. People v. Fulton, 125 A.D.3d 511, 4 N.Y.S.3d 22 [1st Dept. 2015], lv denied 25 N.Y.3d 1072, 12 N.Y.S.3d 623, 34 N.E.3d 374 [2015] ).

By correcting a factual misstatement by his client, counsel did not take an adverse position on the motion (see People v. Mitchell, 21 N.Y.3d 964, 967, 970 N.Y.S.2d 919, 993 N.E.2d 405 [2013] ). When defendant asserted that his counsel was the law partner of another attorney potentially involved in the case and was thereby conflicted, counsel explained that the partnership had...