Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jesse Cooper, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1965-11-08
Citations: 24 A.D.2d 874
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jesse Cooper, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 24
Pages: 874–874

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jesse Cooper, Appellant.

Opinion:
In a coram nobis proceeding, defendant appeals from an order of the County Court, Nassau County, entered December 14, 1964, which denied without a hearing his application to vacate a judgment of said court rendered May 24, 1963, on his plea of guilty, convicting him of robbery in the second degree and imposing sentence. Order reversed oil the law and the facts, and proceeding remitted to County Court, Nassau County, for the purpose of: (a) holding a hearing and taking proof on the issue of the defendant's sanity at the time of his plea and sentence; and (b) making a determination on the basis of all the proof adduced. The defendant's affidavit in support of his application raised, inter alia, the claim that he was insane at the time of the plea. It appears that by memorandum, dated March 19, 1963, the Comity Court denied a motion by defendant for a private psychiatric examination and for certain hospital records, "without prejudice to the defendant renewing same after the report of his examination by the Psychiatric Consultation Clinic for the County of Nassau has been submitted". There is no evidence that such an examination or report was ever made. Nevertheless, in less than two weeks after this memorandum, to wit, on April 1, 1963, defendant withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty. Under these circumstances, the application should not have been denied without a hearing as to whether defendant was insane at the time of the plea (People v. Brown, 13 N Y 2d 201; People v. Boundy, 10 N Y 2d 518). Beldóck, P. J., Christ, Hill, Rabin and Benjamin, JJ., concur.