People v. Pillich

Feb 1, 2008
Reporters:
,

It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty of grand larceny in the third degree (Penal Law § 155.35). We conclude that Supreme Court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion of defendant to withdraw his plea before sentencing (see generally CPL 220.60 [3]). In support thereof, defendant contended that he could not be guilty of larceny because he was a vendee in possession of the property in question pursuant to a conditional contract of sale. “Permission to withdraw a guilty plea rests solely within the court‘s discretion . . . , and refusal to permit withdrawal does not constitute an abuse of that discretion unless there is some evidence of innocence, fraud, or mistake in inducing the plea” (People v Robertson, 255 AD2d 968 [1998], lv denied 92 NY2d 1053 [1999]). Here, defendant failed to present evidence to warrant withdrawal of the plea. Present—Smith, J.P., Lunn, Peradotto, Green and Pine, JJ.