A man convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison on drug charges was deprived of his right to counsel because his lawyer was late for an evidentiary hearing, a divided appeals court found yesterday in ordering a new hearing for the man.
A 4-1 Appellate Division, First Department, panel ruled in People v. Strothers, 1773/07, that Heath Strothers was entitled to a new hearing on the question of whether $2,200 seized from him when he was arrested at the scene of a drug deal should have been used as evidence at his trial.
