Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Frank Randolph, Appellant
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1969-06-04
Citations: 25 N.Y.2d 765
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Frank Randolph, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York Reports
Volume: 25
Pages: 765–769

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Frank Randolph, Appellant.
Argued April 23, 1969;
decided June 4, 1969.
Murray Feigenbaum and Hyman Fisch for appellant.
Frank S. Hogan, District Attorney (David Otis Fuller, Jr. and Michael B. Juviler of counsel), for respondent.

Opinion:
Memorandum:. The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and a hearing directed on defendant's motion for resentence. Although there is a notation on the copy of the indictment relating to the April 19,1939 conviction for burglary in Kings County which indicates that a lawyer was assigned to defendant, another part of the same paper fails to show any answer filled in to the printed question: " Counsel Assigned Yes No Appellant's application to the clerk for a copy of the stenographic minutes of his plea has been unavailing. The form letter in reply to his inquiries said merely ' ' there are no stenographic minutes " available.
Defendant swears he had no counsel and was not advised of right to counsel. This may well be a false assertion, but the relevant records and documents should be examined, or their absence explained; and such other proof taken as may now be available on the question of the assignment and presence of counsel. It may not be said conclusively on the present record without a hearing that defendant had counsel (People v. Picciotti, 4 N Y 2d 340; People v. Lain, 309 N. Y. 291; People v. Langan, 303 N. Y. 474; People v. Guariglia, 303 N. Y. 338, 343; People v. Richetti, 302 N. Y. 290; People v. Shaver, 26 A D 2d 735).