Opinion
16043 Ind. No. 4372/11 Case No. 2017–02722
05-31-2022
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Stanley HOLMES, Defendant–Appellant.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Megan D. Byrne of counsel), for appellant. Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Michael J. Yetter of counsel), for respondent.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Megan D. Byrne of counsel), for appellant.
Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Michael J. Yetter of counsel), for respondent.
Acosta, P.J., Renwick, Singh, Moulton, Kennedy, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Ruth Pickholz, J.), rendered April 3, 2017, as amended May 8, 2017, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of burglary in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a persistent violent felony offender, to a term of 16 years to life, unanimously affirmed.
There was no violation of defendant's right to represent himself, because he "did not clearly and unequivocally request to proceed pro se" ( People v. Duarte, 37 N.Y.3d 1218, 1218, 163 N.Y.S.3d 487, 183 N.E.3d 1205 [2022] ). "Upon review of the record as a whole," ( id. at 1219, 163 N.Y.S.3d 487, 183 N.E.3d 1205 ), defendant's isolated remark about representing himself "did not reflect a definitive commitment to self-representation that would trigger a searching inquiry by the trial court" ( id. [internal quotation marks omitted]). Defendant's sole expression of interest in representing himself was followed, almost immediately, by his apparent agreement with the court's observation that self-representation would be undesirable (see People v. Kelly, 14 A.D.3d 390, 787 N.Y.S.2d 330 [1st Dept. 2005], lv denied 4 N.Y.3d 832, 796 N.Y.S.2d 587, 829 N.E.2d 680 [2005].). Furthermore, defendant had ample opportunity to clarify his position but failed to do so.