Opinion
No. 2006-03806.
March 4, 2008.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Latella, J.), rendered April 10, 2006, convicting him of robbery in the first degree, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence.
Lynn W. L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (David P. Greenberg of counsel), for appellant.
Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M. Castellano, Ellen C. Abbot, and Christopher Barnett of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Spolzino, J.P., Santucci, Angiolillo and Carni, JJ.,
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant argues that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel at sentencing because his attorney failed to join in his pro se motion to vacate his plea of guilty. However, "[a]n attorney assigned to represent a defendant in a criminal case has no duty to participate in a baseless pro se motion to withdraw a plea of guilty which was voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently made" ( People v Ford, 44 AD3d 1070, 1071). Contrary to the defendant's contention, defense counsel did not impliedly become a witness against him or take a position adverse to his at the sentencing.