People v. Showell (James)

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, against James Showell, Defendant-Appellant. Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County (Joanne D. Quinones, J.), rendered July 30, 2012, convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of assault in the third degree, and imposing sentence. Per Curiam. Judgment of conviction (Joanne D. Quinones, J.), rendered July 30, 2012, affirmed. The record as a whole establishes that defendant's guilty plea to third-degree assault was knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily entered in the presence of and with the aid of counsel, and after the court had fully apprised defendant of the constitutional rights he would be giving up by pleading guilty (see People v Conceicao, 26 NY3d 375 [2015]; People v Sougou, 26 NY3d 1052 [2015]). Inasmuch as the record also demonstrates that defendant, who pleaded guilty to third-degree assault on several prior occasions, was rational and coherent throughout the plea, freely admitted his guilt and demonstrated his understanding of the terms and consequences of the plea, the court did not err in failing to make further inquiry regarding defendant's mental condition (see People v Ames, 184 AD2d 1083 [1992], lv denied 80 NY2d 1025 [1992]; see also People v Alexander, 97 NY2d 482 [2002]; People v Beals,2 AD3d 3 29 [2003], lv denied 2 NY3d 761 [2004]). Unlike the situation in People v Mox, 20 NY3d 936 [2012], defendant's statements did not cast significant doubt upon his guilt or otherwise called into question the voluntariness of the plea. THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT. I concur I concur I concur Decision Date: June 29, 2016