| People v Lafoe |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 05810 [75 AD3d 663] |
| July 1, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v JacquelineLafoe, Appellant. |
—[*1] Kevin C. Kortright, District Attorney, Fort Edward (Devin J. Anderson of counsel), forrespondent.
Garry, J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Washington County (McKeighan,J.), rendered July 25, 2008, convicting defendant upon her plea of guilty of the crimes ofburglary in the second degree and burglary in the third degree.
In full satisfaction of two indictments, defendant pleaded guilty to the crimes of burglary inthe second degree and burglary in the third degree. She was thereafter sentenced pursuant to theplea agreement to a prison term of eight years for the burglary in the second degree conviction,to be followed by five years of postrelease supervision, and 2
Defendant argues that her plea was not voluntary due to County Court's failure to hold aCPL article 730 competency hearing after she informed the court during the plea colloquy thatshe suffers from a bipolar disorder. Despite being informed by defendant of her alleged mentaldisorder, "[a] trial court is not required to hold a CPL article 730 hearing simply because adefendant has a history of mental illness, and such history does not necessarily render adefendant incompetent to enter a knowing and voluntary plea" (People v Barclay, 1 AD3d 705,706 [2003] [citations omitted], lv denied 1 NY3d 567 [2003]; accord People v Harrison, 52 AD3d969, 970 [2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 737 [2008]). Here, the record reflects thatdefendant actively participated in the plea [*2]colloquy,answered County Court's questions intelligently, acknowledged that she understood theconsequences of the plea and the nature of the proceedings, had conferred with counsel andaccepted the terms of the plea agreement. As there is nothing in the record indicating thatdefendant lacked the capacity to enter a knowing, intelligent and voluntary plea, it was not anabuse of discretion for County Court to accept the plea without holding a competency hearing(see People v Sorey, 55 AD3d1063, 1064 [2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 930 [2009]; People v Harrison, 52AD3d at 970). For the same reason, we reject defendant's further contention that she wasdeprived of the effective assistance of counsel due to counsel's failure to request a competencyhearing (see People v Jenks, 69AD3d 1120, 1122 [2010], lv denied 14 NY3d 841 [2010]). Finally, defendant'sclaim that she was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel due to counsel's failure toinform her of a potential diminished capacity defense involves matters that fall outside of therecord and is more properly the subject of a CPL article 440 motion (see People v Borom, 55 AD3d1041, 1042 [2008]).
Mercure, J.P., Malone Jr., Kavanagh and Stein, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment isaffirmed.