Opinion
No. 2007-09594.
January 20, 2009.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Donnino, J.), rendered May 17, 2007, convicting him of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence.
Marianne Karas, Armonk, N.Y., for appellant.
Kathleen M. Rice, District Attorney, Mineola, N.Y. (Robert A. Schwartz and Jason R. Richards of counsel), for respondent.
PETER B. SKELOS, J.P., MARK C. DILLON, EDWARD D. CARNI, JOHN M. LEVENTHAL, JJ.
Before: Skelos, J.P., Dillon, Carni and Leventhal, JJ.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The decision to permit a defendant to withdraw a previously-entered plea of guilty rests within the sound discretion of the court ( see People v Seeber, 4 NY3d 780; People v Mann, 32 AD3d 865; People v Kucharczyk, 15 AD3d 595), and this determination generally will not be disturbed absent an improvident exercise of discretion ( see People v DeLeon, 40 AD3d 1008). Here, the defendant knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently entered his negotiated plea of guilty with the assistance of competent counsel, in exchange for a favorable sentence promise ( see People v Mann, 32 AD3d 865). Moreover, contrary to the defendant's arguments, his attorney was not obligated to "participate in a baseless pro se motion to withdraw a plea of guilty which was voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently made" ( People v Caple, 279 AD2d 635, 635). Nor is there any merit to the defendant's contention that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel ( see People v Brooks, 36 AD3d 929, 930; People v Grimes, 35 AD3d 882, 883).