Opinion
15008 Ind. No. 2777/16 Case No. 2019–1403
01-11-2022
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Eric LIMA, Defendant–Appellant.
Caprice R. Jenerson, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Margaret E. Knight of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Michael J. Yetter of counsel), for respondent.
Caprice R. Jenerson, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Margaret E. Knight of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Michael J. Yetter of counsel), for respondent.
Renwick, J.P., Kapnick, Moulton, Kennedy, Scarpulla, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Ellen N. Biben, J. at plea; Ann E. Scherzer, J. at plea withdrawal motion and sentencing), rendered January 25, 2019, as amended April 30, 2019, convicting defendant of course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree, and sentencing him to a term of eight years, unanimously affirmed. The sentencing court providently exercised its discretion in denying defendant's motion to withdraw his plea, without granting a hearing. "[T]he nature and extent of the fact-finding procedures on such motions rest largely in the discretion of the court" ( People v. Fiumefreddo, 82 N.Y.2d 536, 544, 605 N.Y.S.2d 671, 626 N.E.2d 646 [1993] ). Defendant received a full opportunity to present his challenges to his plea with the aid of new counsel, and nothing in the plea colloquy or elsewhere in the record casts doubt on the voluntariness of the plea. Defendant's claims of innocence in his motion consisted of unsubstantiated assertions that his young stepdaughter had falsely accused him of sexually assaulting her over a period of years, and these claims did not warrant withdrawal of the plea (see generally People v. Haffiz, 19 N.Y.3d 883, 884, 951 N.Y.S.2d 690, 976 N.E.2d 216 [2012] ). Similarly, defendant's complaint about the attorney who represented him at the time of the plea amounted to discomfort with counsel's appropriate advice to accept the plea offer (see e. g. People v. Chimilio, 83 A.D.3d 537, 921 N.Y.S.2d 234 [1st Dept. 2011], lv denied 17 N.Y.3d 814, 929 N.Y.S.2d 803, 954 N.E.2d 94 [2011] ; People v. Joseph, 284 A.D.2d 197, 726 N.Y.S.2d 259 [1st Dept. 2001], lv denied 96 N.Y.2d 940, 733 N.Y.S.2d 380, 759 N.E.2d 379 [2001] ).
We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.