People v. Seymour
| Decision Date | 27 October 1955 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of New York, Plaintiff v. William Walter Leo SEYMOUR, Defendant. |
| Court | New York County Court |
William Walter Leo Seymour, pro se.
Angus G. Saunders, Dist. Atty., of Jefferson County, Watertown, for the People.
In the proceeding herein considered, the defendant-petitioner, asks that he be ordered to appear in the Jefferson County Court at a stated time, toward the end of producing testimony to vacate and set aside a judgment of conviction in this Court on or about February 9, 1955, whereby the said defendant was sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment in Attica State Prison at Attica, New York, for a term of not less than three and one-half years, nor more than ten years.
The application of the defendant is in the nature of a petition for a writ of error coram nobis for a review of the sentence under the judgment of conviction aforesaid.
In the first place, it should be stated, that upon the date aforesaid, the defendant was resentenced upon another application for a writ of error coram nobis, as a first felony offender, rather than as a second felony offender. He had been previously sentenced under a judgment of conviction for burglary in the third degree, as a second felony offender, on or about June 4, 1953. Defendant, at that time, had been allegedly convicted in the Tompkins County Court for a felony that occurred prior to his said conviction of burglary in the third degree, in Jefferson County.
A hearing was held upon the aforesaid application for a writ of error coram nobis after the defendant had caused his prior felony conviction in Tompkins County to be set aside. Reasons therefor are not here material. It should be noted, however, that the grounds for setting the same aside were, apparently, that the defendant, at the time of his Tompkins County conviction, was under the age of sixteen years. People v. Seymour, Co.Ct., 137 N.Y.S.2d 813.
After the setting aside of said Tompkins County conviction, the defendant was thereafter returned to the County Court of Jefferson County for resentence as a first felony offender. Under the judgment of conviction of burglary in the third degree, as a second felony offender as stated above, he was originally sentenced to serve a term in Attica State Prison at Attica, New York, for not less than five years nor more than ten years. Upon his resentence as a first felony offender, as previously mentioned, he was sentenced to serve a term of not less than three and one-half years nor more than ten years in Attica State Prison. The present contention of the defendant-petitioner is that counsel was erroneously assigned to represent him upon his application for a writ of error coram nobis at the time of his resentence as a first felony offender.
The defendant-petitioner states in his application for a hearing under the instant application, and as a basis for resentence, that his constitutional rights have been violated, that his rights under Section 308 of the Code of Criminal Procedure have been violated, and that the decisions under the cases hereinafter mentioned, did not allow assignment of counsel upon his prior hearing and resentence, as a first felony offender, without his request to ask that counsel be assigned.
In support of his contention, the defendant-petitioner cites the case of People v. Lyons, Co.Ct., 55 N.Y.S.2d 9. The claim that he makes is that no counsel should have been assigned without his request.
The aforesaid case, and the authorities therein cited, do not appear to apply to a situation such as we have here. Without going into detail as to the determination in those cases, it is quite a different situation with which we are here presented than was the factual situation in the authorities mentioned.
Petitioner contends that counsel had been assigned at the hearing immediately above mentioned without his request.
It is true that there was no request by the petitioner for assignment of counsel. In all fairness to the defendant-petitioner, it was the feeling of the Court, that counsel should be assigned, to assist him at every stage of the proceeding; particularly, in view of the fact, that he was then, and still is, incarcerated in a penal institution, and without funds to retain counsel.
A hearing was held, at which, the petitioner and his assigned co...
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People v. Sandes
...for production in this Court for a hearing upon this matter is denied. People v. Richetti, 302 N.Y. 290, 97 N.E.2d 908; People v. Seymour, 208 Misc. 894, 145 N.Y.S.2d 338. The District Attorney of Jefferson County is respectfully asked to prepare an order to conform with the above and forwa......