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The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Robert DAVIS, Defendant-Appellant.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Renee A. White, J.), rendered September 6, 2005, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted robbery in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 1 1/212 to 3 years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his plea, without appointing new counsel. The court provided defendant with a suitable opportunity to present his claims both orally and in writing, and the record establishes that the plea was knowing, intelligent and voluntary (see People v. Frederick, 45 N.Y.2d 520, 410 N.Y.S.2d 555, 382 N.E.2d 1332 [1978] ). In particular, defendant knew precisely what crime he was admitting, and his factual allocution established all the elements of that crime. Although his counsel refused to advocate in support of the plea withdrawal motion, this did not deprive defendant of effective, conflict-free representation, because the motion was patently meritless, because counsel did not provide any damaging information, and because counsel's comments did not influence the court's decision to deny the motion (see e.g. People v. Castro, 242 A.D.2d 445, 662 N.Y.S.2d 466 [1997], lv. denied 90 N.Y.2d 1010, 666 N.Y.S.2d 105, 688 N.E.2d 1388 [1997] ). We have considered and rejected defendant's remaining arguments.
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Decided: February 13, 2007
Court: Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.
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