Court Opinion

ID: 9495763
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:09:46.700926+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:11.119809
License: Public Domain

WINTER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
At his sentencing hearing, appellant filed a motion to withdraw the plea of guilty he had entered eleven days earlier. The motion was a typical pro se filing, asserting in conclusory terms that he had been coerced by his counsel to enter the plea and was innocent. His counsel declined to aid in the presentation of that motion because of a perceived conflict of interest resulting from the coercion allegation. Counsel requested that new counsel be appointed to present the motion “on proper papers” and proffer “additional information that the defendant may wish to impart to the court.” However, after perfunctory questioning of appellant, the court denied the plea withdrawal motion on the merits, ignoring the request for new counsel.
Under clearly established federal law, a motion to withdraw a guilty plea is a “critical stage” of a criminal proceeding, United States v. Davis, 239 F.3d 283, 286 (2d Cir.2001), and a defendant has a right to counsel, id. That rule, while clearly established, is not entirely unqualified. For example, where the trial court makes sustainable findings that the motion is frivolous and/or a dilatory tactic, or an appellate court finds the denial of counsel to have been harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, no constitutional error has occurred. However, none of these salutary qualifications is applicable here.
a) Background
Appellant’s motion asserted that he was innocent and that his earlier plea had been coerced by counsel. Believing that the claim of coercion created a disqualifying conflict of interest, counsel stated the following to the court:
*165May I be heard? I’m at a great disadvantage to defend the defendant, his actions, because he does point a finger at me claiming that I’m the one who caused him to plead guilty against his wishes. In fact he claims that he’s not guilty. So I would ask that I be relieved and have another attorney appointed to proceed with moving this motion forward on proper papers and maybe some additional information that the defendant may wish to impart to the Court.
The court then engaged in a colloquy with appellant that is about one transcript page in length. The court’s inquiry concerned the nature of the alleged coercion and verification that appellant had admitted guilt at the plea proceeding. Appellant stated that he had, against his expressed wishes, been pressured by counsel to plead guilty to get the minimum sentence and avoid an inevitable (in counsel’s view) conviction. He conceded that he had admitted guilt in his plea, but proclaimed his innocence.
The court then stated that appellant’s motion appeared to be “a pro forma motion” inconsistent with the plea colloquy and denied the motion. The court ignored the request to appoint new counsel and made no attempt to induce counsel to aid appellant with his motion. Appellant was then sentenced to the minimum sentence promised in the plea negotiations.
On appeal to the Appellate Division, new counsel filed a brief challenging the failure of the trial court to appoint new counsel to prepare and present the motion to withdraw the plea. The brief emphasized the claim of innocence and asserted the existence of specific exculpatory evidence that new counsel could have presented in support of the plea withdrawal motion. In particular, the brief recited that a confidential informant had stated to the police that one Taylor, who had been present at the murder and seems to have identified appellant as the killer, had himself admitted to the lolling; that Taylor had made widely divergent statements about the event; and that another eyewitness, one McLloyd, had initially exculpated appellant and then recanted, but without actually identifying appellant as the killer.
The Appellate Division affirmed appellant’s conviction, stating
[a]fter a thorough inquiry, the court properly denied defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The record establishes that defendant made a voluntary plea and fails to substantiate his claims of coercion and innocence. The conduct by his attorney that defendant claimed to have been coercive amounted to nothing more than the attorney’s professional opinion on the strength of the case and sound advice to plead guilty. Defendant’s claim of innocence was con-clusory and was belied by his oral, written and videotaped confessions. Defense counsel properly declined to join in defendant’s pro se motion to withdraw his plea since the motion lacked merit, and appointment of new counsel was not required (People v. Simpson, 238 A.D.2d 193, 656 N.Y.S.2d 724). We conclude that defendant received meaningful representation (see, People v. Ford, 86 N.Y.2d 397, 404, 633 N.Y.S.2d 270, 657 N.E.2d 265). We have considered and rejected defendant’s remaining claims.
People v. Hines, 267 A.D.2d 17, 698 N.Y.S.2d 491, 491-92 (1999).
b) The Ineffective Assistance Issues
On the present record, an ineffective assistance of counsel issue arises as to whether counsel provided ineffective assistance in connection with the entering of the guilty plea, including the use of impermissible coercion. Under clearly established federal law, the issue is meritless.
*166Appellant’s own colloquy with the trial judge demonstrates that counsel did no more than make a reasonable strategic decision that the weight of the evidence, in particular a videotaped confession, was such as to render a conviction more or less inevitable and that a plea bargain offer involving a statutory minimum sentence should be accepted. This advice, even if strongly rendered, was well within the range of reasonable professional judgment under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 688-91, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), and therefore not constitutionally deficient representation. See generally id. Appellant no doubt felt “coerced,” as would anyone, guilty or innocent, in such circumstances, but that type of pressure does not invalidate a guilty plea. See United States v. Juncal, 245 F.3d 166, 172 (2d Cir.2001).
A second ineffective assistance issue might have arisen had counsel represented appellant on the plea withdrawal motion. A conflict may be created by a defendant’s allegation of coercion by counsel in entering a plea that, if followed by a lapse in representation, would require appointment of new counsel. Davis, 239 F.3d at 287-88. However, a disqualifying conflict does not arise unless the alleged coercion amounts to more than strongly worded advice based on a reasonable, professional judgment. Id. at 286-87. In the present case, counsel informed the court that he perceived a disabling conflict arising from the allegations of coercion and requested the appointment of new counsel. When the court questioned appellant and he described his complaints about counsel, the perception of a disqualifying conflict of interest was dispelled. As noted, the problem was not improper conduct by counsel but appellant’s dissatisfaction with the reasonable, professional advice given, a matter of no constitutional significance. See id. However, although the trial court could then have ordered counsel to proceed to represent appellant on the portion of the motion to withdraw the plea related to the claim of innocence or at least offered counsel an opportunity to revise his opinion on the existence of a conflict, it did neither. Nor did the court appoint new counsel. Instead, without allowing counsel to speak again, it denied the pro se motion forthwith and proceeded immediately to sentencing.
c) The Right to Counsel on a Motion to Withdraw a Guilty Plea
As noted, appellant’s motion was, from filing to disposition, a pro se effort. The Appellate Division itself noted that “counsel properly declined to join in defendant’s pro se motion to withdraw his plea.” Hines, 698 N.Y.S.2d at 491. It is also undeniable that a request for new counsel was made, specifically to present the motion “on proper papers” and to provide “additional information.” The question therefore is whether the denial of the right to counsel with regard to preparing and presenting the motion to withdraw the guilty plea involved an “unreasonable application” of “clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1).
Federal law is unambiguously clear that a defendant raising a claim of innocence on a plea withdrawal has a right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment and that there are no qualifications to this rule applicable to the present case. The Supreme Court has held that a criminal defendant is entitled to counsel at every “critical stage[]” of the proceeding. Coleman v. Alabama, 399 U.S. 1, 7, 90 S.Ct. 1999, 26 L.Ed.2d 387 (1970); see also Mempa v. Rhay, 389 U.S. 128, 134, 88 S.Ct. 254, 19 L.Ed.2d 336 (1967) (“Appointment of counsel for an indigent is required at every stage of a criminal proceeding where sub*167stantial rights of a criminal accused may be affected.”). It has also held that the right to counsel applies equally to the trial and sentencing phases of a defendant’s proceedings. See Von Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U.S. 708, 721, 68 S.Ct. 316, 92 L.Ed. 309 (1948) (“A waiver of the constitutional right to the assistance of counsel is of no less moment to an accused who must decide to plead guilty than to an accused who stands trial.”).
Given these clear directives from the Supreme Court, it is unsurprising that every federal court has concluded that a defendant has a right to counsel at a withdrawal-of-plea hearing. As we recently observed,
“[I]t is well settled that a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches ‘at all critical stages in the proceedings .... ’ It cannot be gainsaid that a defendant’s guilty plea is the most critical stage of the proceeding as it forecloses his very right to a trial. Consequently, in the face of an allegedly involuntary plea, a plea withdrawal hearing is vital to ensuring the integrity of the process by which guilt may ultimately be determined. Given the occasionally complex standards governing plea withdrawals ... it would be unreasonable to expect a criminal defendant to navigate this area of law without the competent advice of counsel.”
Davis, 239 F.3d at 285-86 (citations omitted). In Davis, we held that “the district court must provide the defendant with the effective assistance of conflict-free counsel for purposes of the plea withdrawal.” Id. at 287. We then noted that “[o]ur frequent review of district courts’ actions in this circuit confirms that the appointment of new counsel in such situations is the usual practice.” Id. at 287-88 (citing six Second Circuit precedents).
Nor are other circuits confused or divided on this question. Every court of appeals that has faced the question has concluded that a plea withdrawal is a “critical stage” of the proceedings requiring the appointment of counsel. See United States v. Sanchez-Barreto, 93 F.3d 17, 20 (1st Cir.1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1068, 117 S.Ct. 711, 136 L.Ed.2d 631 (1997); United States v. Garrett, 90 F.3d 210, 212 (7th Cir.1996); United States v. White, 659 F.2d 231, 233 (D.C.Cir.1981); United States v. Crowley, 529 F.2d 1066, 1069 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 995, 96 S.Ct. 2209, 48 L.Ed.2d 820 (1976); United States v. Joslin, 434 F.2d 526, 529-30 (D.C.Cir.1970).1
There are of course qualifications to the general rule that a plea withdrawal motion is a critical stage of the proceedings against a criminal defendant at which the defendant has a right to counsel. A number of lower federal courts have found no constitutional error when the lack of counsel was harmless. See Crowley, 529 F.2d at 1070-71 (finding harmless error where there were no factual or legal arguments on appeal not already presented in the *168district court). Moreover, in the recurring cases in which a defendant seeks to withdraw a plea of guilty based solely on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel with regard to entering the plea, courts have implicitly or explicitly found the failure to appoint counsel to be harmless where advising the defendant to plead guilty was well within the range of reasonable professional advice and the alleged coercion amounted to no more than the defendant’s dissatisfaction with that advice. See United States v. Craig, 985 F.2d 175, 179 (4th Cir.1993) (per curiam) (raising three claims of ineffective assistance, including coercion by counsel); see also United States v. Trussel, 961 F.2d 685, 690 (7th Cir.1992) (alleging counsel’s erroneous advice rendered guilty plea not knowing and intelligent); cf. United States v. Moree, 220 F.3d 65, 69-72 (2d Cir.2000) (accusing counsel of coercing plea and ineffective assistance). In such cases, the trial court is well-situated to evaluate the quality of the advice given.
In a small number of other cases, harmless error has been found where, as here, the uncounseled withdrawal motion added a claim of innocence to that of ineffective assistance regarding the plea. In each, however, unlike the present case, the courts involved relied upon the fact that the plea allocution had included a particularized description of the crime and the defendant’s role in it by the defendant in the plea allocution. See Fluitt v. Superintendent, Green Haven Corr. Facility, 480 F.Supp. 81, 83-85 (S.D.N.Y.1979) (finding defendant’s guilty plea knowing and voluntary where defendant made detailed admission of guilt); see also Lopez v. Scully, 58 F.3d 38, 42-43 (2d Cir.1995) (finding plea withdrawal motion not a “plausible alternative defense strategy” where defendant had explained details of and motivations for crimes and concluding that second state hearing on plea withdrawal unnecessary where district court had conducted full evidentiary hearing on the merits and defendant was represented by new counsel).
Finally, there is also caselaw suggesting that the denial of counsel on a plea withdrawal motion is permissible where there is a sustainable finding that a sophisticated defendant had deliberately created an ethical conflict with his attorney as a dilatory tactic. See United States v. Attar, 38 F.3d 727, 733-35 (4th Cir.1994).
None of these qualifications apply in the present circumstances with regard to the claim of innocence. To be sure, the denial of counsel was harmless as to the claim of a coercive plea because appellant’s answers to the court’s questions showed beyond any question that counsel did no more than give strong advice that was well within the range of reasonableness, albeit seeming to be defeatist and coercive to one facing serious criminal charges. However, on the present record, appellant’s claim of innocence had some particularized factual support. The issue was never probed in the trial court’s perfunctory colloquy with appellant, and the Appellate Division dismissed the claim of innocence as “concluso-ry,” 698 N.Y.S.2d at 491, a portrayal that accurately describes the pro se motion but ignores the particularized representations by counsel on appeal regarding the existence of exculpatory evidence. The description of the motion as “eonclusory” is accurate, therefore, only because the trial court declined the request for the appointment of counsel to present the motion with “additional information.” Finally, there is nothing in the present record remotely suggesting that appellant was engaged in a sophisticated maneuver seeking to disqualify his attorney as a dilatory tactic.
My colleagues assert that federal courts have employed “many divergent ap*169proaches and outcomes ... to the facts at issue”, Maj. Op. at [164], and that, therefore, “the Appellate Division’s decision [did not] constitute[ ] an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law,” id. Respectfully, I disagree.
As explained above, a plea withdrawal motion is a critical stage of a criminal proceeding in which there is a right to counsel. My colleagues assert that federal courts have sometimes applied right to counsel analysis and sometimes ineffective assistance analysis in cases factually similar to the present one. However, ineffective assistance analysis cannot be appropriate with regard to a pro se motion because there is no assistance of counsel to evaluate. Accordingly, the decisions cited as employing ineffective assistance analysis involve either: (i) circumstances in which the defendant was represented by counsel on the plea withdrawal motion and found not to have received ineffective assistance of counsel, see United States v. Caban, 962 F.2d 646, 648-50 (7th Cir.1992); cf. Moree, 220 F.3d at 69-72; (ii) circumstances in which a defendant was represented on a plea withdrawal motion by conflicted counsel and in which a new hearing on the plea withdrawal motion with new counsel was ordered, see United States v. Morris, 259 F.3d 894, 899-900 (7th Cir.2001); Davis, 239 F.3d at 284-85, 288; Guzman v. Sabourin, 124 F.Supp.2d 828, 834-36 (S.D.N.Y.2000); (in) a sustainable finding of no ineffective assistance with regard to the entry of the plea combined with a consequent, if implicit, finding of harmless error in the denial of counsel on the plea withdrawal motion, see Lopez, 58 F.3d at 41-42; Craig, 985 F.2d at 179; Trussel, 961 F.2d at 689-90; Fluitt, 480 F.Supp. at 86; or (iv) a justified denial of a continuance to retain new counsel where a plea motion is used by a sophisticated defendant to create a disqualifying conflict with counsel as a dilatory tactic, see Attar, 38 F.3d at 733-35.
None of these cases demonstrate confusion or lack of clearly established federal law regarding the right to counsel on a plea withdrawal motion. They all recognize such a right and either enforce it, find the denial of counsel harmless, or hold the motion to be a deliberate dilatory tactic.
d) The Decision of the Appellate Division
It should be emphasized that the decision of the Appellate Division did not suggest, as do my colleagues, that it found itself mired in a set of conflicting precedents. Rather, it regarded the law as settled. Its decision did find that appellant had “meaningful representation,” 698 N.Y.S.2d at 491-92, but that is clearly a reference solely to the entering of the guilty plea because the decision also noted that appellant had to proceed pro se on the plea withdrawal motion. Its affirmance of the denial of the plea withdrawal motion was based on the fact that the pro se motion was “conclusory,” id. at 491. While such a conclusion might be sustainable as a finding of harmless error in some roughly similar circumstances, the Appellate Division addressed the motion on its face and thereby ignored both original counsel’s request for the appointment of new counsel to present “proper papers” and “additional information” and appellate counsel’s specific representations as to exculpatory evidence. Indeed, the Appellate Division’s decision contained an inaccurate description of the events in the trial court in stating that “[djefense counsel properly declined to join in defendant’s pro se motion ... since the motion lacked merit.” Id. The stated reason for counsel’s declining to join in was his perception of a conflict, not the lack of merit, and counsel asked for the appointment of new counsel.
*170The denial of counsel, therefore, cannot be excused either as harmless beyond a reasonable doubt — the “additional information” was never before the trial court and was ignored by the Appellate Division — or as a clever ploy by appellant to delay matters — nothing in the record suggests that appellant is sophisticated.
I therefore respectfully dissent.

. Indeed, the New York Appellate Division has concluded that defendants are entitled to counsel at a plea withdrawal because it is a "critical stage of the criminal process.” People v. Skelly, 28 A.D.2d 728, 281 N.Y.S.2d 633, 634 (1967). I also note parenthetically that several other state courts considering the issue have reached the same conclusion. See Berry v. State, 630 So.2d 127, 129 (Ala.Crim. App.1993); Lewis v. United States, 446 A.2d 837, 841 (D.C.1982); Fortson v. State, 272 Ga. 457, 532 S.E.2d 102, 104 (2000); People v. Holmes, 12 Ill.App.3d 1, 297 N.E.2d 204, 206 (1973); Martin v. State, 588 N.E.2d 1291, 1293 (Ind.Ct.App.1992); Beals v. State, 106 Nev. 729, 802 P.2d 2, 4 (1990); Randall v. State, 861 P.2d 314, 316 (Okla.Crim.App.1993); Browning v. Commonwealth, 19 Va.App. 295, 452 S.E.2d 360, 362 (1994); State v. Harell, 80 Wash.App. 802, 911 P.2d 1034, 1035 (1996).