Summary
This Appellate Division, Third Department decision affirms the County Court's judgment convicting Nicholas Guilder of burglary in the second degree and petit larceny following his guilty plea. The appellant argued that the trial court erred in denying his request for substitute counsel and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel regarding trial strategy. The court held that these claims were abandoned by entering the plea and were unpreserved for appellate review due to the failure to file a post-allocution motion to withdraw the plea. Consequently, the conviction and sentence were affirmed.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the County Court erred in denying the defendant's request for substitute counsel prior to his guilty plea.
- Whether the defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel was preserved for appellate review.
- Whether the defendant waived his right to challenge the plea by failing to make a post‑allocution motion to withdraw.
Holdings
- The denial was not error because the defendant abandoned his request by entering a guilty plea while represented by counsel.
- The claim was unpreserved because the defendant failed to make a timely post‑allocution motion to withdraw his plea.
- The judgment is affirmed; the ineffective‑assistance claim does not warrant vacating the conviction.
Key quotations
“Defendant's arguments amount to a disagreement with defense counsel's reasonable assessment of the evidence and planned trial strategies that do not establish that he was denied meaningful representation.” (at 1)
Factual background
Nicholas Guilder was charged with burglary in the second degree and petit larceny. He initially had assigned counsel, complained about representation, was later assigned a second attorney, and ultimately entered a guilty plea to both charges, receiving a seven‑year prison term and five years post‑release supervision.
Procedural history
Defendant was indicted for burglary in the second degree and petit larceny, entered a guilty plea after counsel disputes, and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and five years post‑release supervision. He appealed arguing denial of substitute counsel and ineffective assistance of counsel.