People v. Sides
| Decision Date | 08 February 1990 |
| Citation | 75 N.Y.2d 822,551 N.E.2d 1233,552 N.Y.S.2d 555 |
| Parties | , 551 N.E.2d 1233 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Earl L. SIDES, Jr., Appellant. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The order of the Appellate Division, 145 A.D.2d 1002, 538 N.Y.S.2d 675, should be reversed, the plea of guilty and judgment vacated, and the case remitted to County Court for further proceedings on the indictments.
On May 1, 1985, defendant was arraigned in County Court on various counts including sodomy, sexual abuse, endangering the welfare of a child and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. As defendant had requested, John Gilbert was assigned to represent him, and on May 15, 1985 Gilbert appeared with defendant when he entered a plea of not guilty. Defendant was later offered a plea bargain and the case was adjourned until July 31, 1985 for defendant's response. At a hearing on that date defendant announced that he wanted to dismiss Gilbert and have new counsel assigned. Gilbert, in turn, stated that
The court then told defendant it was "not going to let you pick and choose between lawyers but I will relieve you of counsel which will mean that you will either have to hire a lawyer or try the case yourself." Defendant answered that he had no money to hire a lawyer. Asserting that "[t]hat is too bad * * * [y]ou're not going to pick and choose between lawyers," County Court ruled that if defendant did not plead guilty the plea offer would be revoked. Defendant then stated that he would plead guilty "if John Gilbert would still want to represent me, but I don't want to go to trial without an attorney." After conferring with Gilbert, defendant ultimately accepted the plea bargain and was sentenced accordingly. On appeal defendant contends that County Court's failure to conduct any inquiry after he complained about the adequacy of counsel violated his State and Federal constitutional right to counsel.
The right of an indigent criminal defendant to the services of a court-appointed lawyer does not encompass a right to appointment of successive lawyers at defendant's option (see, People v....
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...cause for substitution,’ such as a conflict of interest or other irreconcilable conflict with counsel" ( People v. Sides , 75 N.Y.2d 822, 824, 552 N.Y.S.2d 555, 551 N.E.2d 1233 [1990] ; see People v. Porto , 16 N.Y.3d 93, 99-100, 917 N.Y.S.2d 74, 942 N.E.2d 283 [2010] ). "[A] court's duty t......
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