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People v. Hall

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 21, 1977
56 A.D.2d 893 (N.Y. App. Div. 1977)

Opinion

March 21, 1977


Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County, rendered November 14, 1975 (the date on the minutes of sentence is March 18, 1976), convicting him of attempted robbery in the first degree, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence. Case remanded to the Supreme Court to hear and report on defendant's application to withdraw his plea of guilty, and appeal held in abeyance in the interim. It is within the discretion of the trial court to allow a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea at any time prior to sentence. "The court, except under special circumstances, should either grant the application or conduct a hearing to determine whether the application has merit" (cf. People v Williams, 55 A.D.2d 923; see, also, People v McClain, 32 N.Y.2d 697; People v McKennion, 27 N.Y.2d 671). Here the defendant made statements at the time of sentencing which included allegations of his innocence. Even if there was some doubt as to what the defendant was referring, the trial court should not have imposed sentence without further inquiry. A hearing will allow the court to fully examine any claims made by defendant, and resolve any ambiguities. Martuscello, Acting P.J., Cohalan, Rabin and Mollen, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Hall

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 21, 1977
56 A.D.2d 893 (N.Y. App. Div. 1977)
Case details for

People v. Hall

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. ERNEST HALL, Appellant

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Mar 21, 1977

Citations

56 A.D.2d 893 (N.Y. App. Div. 1977)

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