Justice Richard Lee Price
Lawrence moved pro se to vacate two of his judgments of conviction for unlawful possession of marijuana. He claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, among other things. The court noted Lawrence was previously convicted of sexual misconduct, and also of three counts of forging public records in Virginia. He was ordered removed to Jamaica, and removal proceedings were started by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. The court also noted Lawrence previously moved for the same relief that was summarily denied, thus opined he sought to renew and/or reargue his original motion. It stated Criminal Procedure Law does not provide for leave to either reargue or renew, and even in looking to the CPLR, Lawrence’s motion was devoid of merit, thus reargument and/or renewal were denied. Also, the court found Lawrence’s claim was procedurally barred, stating he was previously in a position to raise the grounds or issues underlying his ineffective assistance of counsel claims, but failed to do so. It noted his guilty plea on the marijuana charges did not affect his immigration status as his earlier convictions already rendered him a deportable alien. Thus, vacatur was denied.
