PEOPLE v. ROSA (2006)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Ronald A. Zweibel, J.), rendered October 24, 2003, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 2 to 4 years, unanimously affirmed.

 After sufficient inquiry, the court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea.   Defendant received a reasonable opportunity to advance his claims that he was innocent and that his attorney “coerced” him into pleading guilty, and the record establishes that defendant's 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] ).   Nor was the appointment of new counsel required under the circumstances.   In his written application, defendant merely alleged that his attorney advised him to plead guilty in order to avoid a severe sentence, and defendant never elaborated on these allegations.   Therefore, his claim of coercion was meritless (see e.g. People v. Hines, 267 A.D.2d 17, 698 N.Y.S.2d 491 [1999], lv. denied 94 N.Y.2d 921, 708 N.Y.S.2d 360, 729 N.E.2d 1159 [2000] ), and there was no conflict of interest.   Defendant's claim of innocence was equally meritless.   We have considered and rejected defendant's remaining claims.