PEOPLE v. FIGUEROA (2009)

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Caesar Cirigliano, J.), rendered May 29, 2008, as amended July 8, 2008, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of 7 years, unanimously affirmed.

At sentencing, the court was under no obligation to conduct a sua sponte inquiry into whether there was a conflict between defendant and his counsel. Defendant never made an explicit or implicit request for new counsel at any stage of the proceedings, or a motion to withdraw his plea; on the contrary, during the plea allocution he said he was “very” satisfied with his legal representation. Accordingly, there was nothing before the court to warrant an inquiry. In any event, defendant received a full opportunity to be heard before the court imposed sentence. Nothing in the comments made by defendant or his counsel at sentencing suggested a conflict of interest (see People v. Nelson, 7 N.Y.3d 883, 826 N.Y.S.2d 593, 860 N.E.2d 56 [2006] ). At most, the purported conflict amounted to a possible disagreement over investigatory strategy. There is no indication that the attorney provided ineffective assistance in connection with the guilty plea (see People v. Ford, 86 N.Y.2d 397, 404, 633 N.Y.S.2d 270, 657 N.E.2d 265 [1995] ).