A New York City bodega worker who was denied a public defender even though his attorney did not inform him of a potential conflict of interest, repeatedly failed to appear in court and suggested he “wasn’t going to do a very good job at trial” has been given a second chance to argue a motion to vacate his guilty plea on a charge of possession of crack cocaine.
A unanimous Appellate Division, 1st Department panel held that Bienvenido Pina had presented sufficient corroborating evidence to merit a hearing regarding the conflict of interest.
