| People v Manley |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 01025 [70 AD3d 1125] |
| February 11, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Devon A.Manley, Appellant. |
—[*1] Weeden A. Wetmore, District Attorney, Elmira (Amanda M. Chafee of counsel), forrespondent.
McCarthy, J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Chemung County (Hayden, J.),rendered January 2, 2009, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crime of criminalpossession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of criminal possession of a controlledsubstance in the third degree and sentenced to a prison term of six years with two years ofpostrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals, contending that the sentence imposed was harshand excessive and, further, that County Court erred in summarily denying defense counsel'smotion to be relieved of her assignment.
"In the absence of an abuse of discretion or extraordinary circumstances, the sentenceimposed by the sentencing court will not be disturbed" (People v Flint, 66 AD3d 1245, 1246 [2009] [citations omitted]).Given defendant's criminal history, we discern no reason to disturb the sentence imposed.Contrary to defendant's assertion, the fact that the instant offense represents his first felonyconviction does not establish extraordinary circumstances (see People v Bonelli, 41 AD3d 972, 974 [2007], lv denied9 NY3d 921 [2007]). Similarly, the fact that other individuals who committed the same crimemay have received lesser sentences is of no moment, as "no two defendants are quite alike evenif they have committed, in legal definition, identical [*2]offenses" (People v Selikoff, 35 NY2d 227, 234 [1974],cert denied 419 US 1122 [1975]).
Turning to the assigned counsel issue, "[t]he right of an indigent criminal defendant to theservices of a court-appointed lawyer does not encompass a right to appointment of successivelawyers at defendant's option" (People v Sides, 75 NY2d 822, 824 [1990]). Rather, adefendant seeking new assigned counsel must demonstrate good cause for the requestedsubstitution (see id.; People v Davenport, 58 AD3d 892, 895 [2009], lvdenied 12 NY3d 782 [2009]). No such showing was made here.
When defendant requested a change of counsel in July 2008, County Court questioneddefendant extensively as to the basis for his application, summarized counsel's efforts ondefendant's behalf and ultimately concluded that defendant failed to demonstrate good cause forthe requested substitution. Two months later, when the Assistant Public Defender representingdefendant sought to be relieved of the assignment, County Court again denied the request fornew counsel. Based upon our review of the record as a whole, we cannot say that County Courtfailed to carefully evaluate this request. While the record reflects some dissatisfaction withcounsel (see People v Davenport, 58 AD3d at 895), County Court had the opportunity toobserve the "ongoing dialogue" between defendant and counsel during the course of this actionand concluded that the relationship between the two was "conducive to providing meaningfulrepresentation during the course of the trial." Accordingly, the judgment of conviction isaffirmed.
Cardona, P.J., Mercure, Malone Jr. and Kavanagh, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment isaffirmed.