People v. Majors

• Citation: 2009 NY Slip Op 06049,883 N.Y.S.2d 641,64 A.D.3d 1085
• Decision Date: 30 July 2009
• Docket Number: 101518.
• Parties: THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. LANCE MAJORS, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

64 A.D.3d 1085

883 N.Y.S.2d 641

2009 NY Slip Op 06049

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. LANCE MAJORS, Appellant.

101518.

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

Decided July 30, 2009.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Sullivan County (LaBuda, J.), rendered December 13, 2007, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree, reckless endangerment in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless driving, and the traffic infraction of speeding.

Kavanagh, J.

On March 24, 2007, defendant, with his 11-year-old daughter as a passenger, drove an automobile through the Town of Liberty, Sullivan County at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. After he was stopped by the State Police, defendant was required to perform several field sobriety tests because the arresting officer suspected that he was intoxicated. When defendant failed to successfully complete these tests, he was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated (hereinafter DWI). Later, it was also determined that defendant was operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver's license. At the State Police barracks, defendant refused to submit to a breathalyzer test, but agreed to provide a blood sample to determine the alcohol content in his blood. After arriving at the hospital where the sample was to be drawn, defendant changed his mind and refused to submit to the test. In addition to DWI, defendant was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree, reckless endangerment in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless driving and speeding. After a trial, at which he represented himself, defendant was convicted as charged, and subsequently sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 2 1/3 to 7 years for the DWI conviction and 1 1/3 to 4 years for the aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle conviction. One-year terms were also imposed for his convictions of endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. Defendant also received 30 days for reckless driving and 15 days for speeding.¹ Defendant now appeals.

Defendant's sole contention on appeal is that County Court deprived him of a fair trial by repeatedly making statements in the presence of the jury that personally demeaned him and called into question the wisdom of his decision to represent himself at trial. While defendant did not specifically object to each statement made by the court, he did, prior to summations, complain that the court's statements regarding the number of attorneys who had been assigned to represent him throughout these proceedings could "prejudice [the jury] to some degree." Assuming that this comment served to preserve this issue for our review (see People v Graves, 194 AD2d 925, 927 [1993], lv denied 82 NY2d 719 [1993]; but see People Comfort, 60 AD3d 1298, 1300 [2009]), we conclude, on the evidence presented, that defendant was not deprived of a fair trial.

The record reveals that, prior to trial, defendant had been assigned two attorneys to represent him, and each was later relieved because defendant was not satisfied with their efforts on his behalf. After defendant informed County Court that he would represent himself at trial, the court assigned an attorney to assist him during those proceedings. On this appeal, defendant claims that he was deprived of a fair trial because of the numerous occasions that the court interrupted him during opening and closing statements, as well as during his cross-examination of witnesses who testified against him. In particular, defendant points to ...