PEOPLE v. HERNANDEZ MOLINA (2023)

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Lester B. Adler, J.), rendered August 12, 2019, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the second degree, and sentencing him to concurrent prison terms of 5 years and 1 year, respectively, followed by 31/212 years of postrelease supervision, unanimously reversed, on the law, and the matter remanded for a new trial.

“Defendant is entitled to a new trial because the court denied his request for new counsel without making any inquiry” into the substance of his request, “and without giving defendant any opportunity to explain the basis for his request” (People v. Resheroop, 209 A.D.3d 444, 444, 174 N.Y.S.3d 843 [1st Dept. 2022]).  It is not dispositive that the request was first raised “[s]hortly before jury selection” (People v. Rodriguez, 46 A.D.3d 396, 397, 848 N.Y.S.2d 94 [1st Dept. 2007], lv denied 10 N.Y.3d 844, 859 N.Y.S.2d 402, 889 N.E.2d 89 [2008]).  “Even though the request for new counsel may well have been a delaying tactic, ․ the court had no basis to deny the application without hearing any explanation” (People v. Branham, 59 A.D.3d 244, 245, 873 N.Y.S.2d 280 [1st Dept. 2009]).

Since we are reversing and remanding for a new trial, we do not reach any of defendant's remaining arguments on appeal, except that we find that the verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v. Danielson, 9 N.Y.3d 342, 348, 849 N.Y.S.2d 480, 880 N.E.2d 1 [2007]).