Appeals (1) from a judgment of the County Court of Columbia County (Nichols, J.), rendered October 14, 2003, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crimes of arson in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree and assault in the third degree (two counts), and (2) by permission, from an order of said court, entered April 26, 2006, which denied defendant’s motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate the judgment of conviction, without a hearing.
Defendant started a fire on the back porch of his mother’s apartment in the City of Hudson, Columbia County. The fire destroyed or damaged several apartment buildings1 and resulted in injury to two volunteer firefighters. Defendant waived indictment and was prosecuted by superior court information. He pleaded guilty to arson in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree and two counts of assault in the third degree. Defendant’s subsequent motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate the judgment of conviction on the grounds that his plea was not knowing and voluntary and his counsel was ineffective was denied. Defendant now appeals from the judgment of conviction and, by permission of this Court, from the denial of his CPL 440.10 motion.
Here, defendant does not address his assault convictions, arguing only that his arson conviction should be reduced from
We are satisfied that the sworn affidavit and the plea colloquy, together, establish the elements of the crimes charged (see People v Kemp, 288 AD2d 635, 636 [2001]) and that nothing occurred during the plea process which would negate an essential element so as to trigger County Court’s duty of further inquiry (see People v Lopez, 71 NY2d 662, 666 [1988]). While defendant’s preplea statements2 to the police are inconsistent with his plea, defendant did not equivocate during the plea process itself. In sum, we are satisfied that defendant admitted to intentionally setting fire to an occupied building, an act which would evince a depraved indifference to human life.
Finally, we find no merit to defendant’s argument that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because counsel allowed him to plead guilty to crimes without factual support in the record, failed to raise an affirmative defense to the arson charge and failed to pursue youthful offender treatment. In support of this contention, defendant relies mainly on the state
Crew III, J.E, Peters, Lahtinen and Kane, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment and order are affirmed.
1.
More than 40 people were evacuated and damage in excess of $328,000 was caused.
2.
Defendant gave three conflicting statements to the police. At first, he blamed the fire on three black men who were smoking marihuana on his mother’s back porch. In the second statement, he stated that grease on the outside of a pot he was using caught fire and he threw it out his back door, but it hit the railing and landed on his mother’s porch. In the third statement, he admitted starting the fire, but only to attract his paramour’s attention in a nearby apartment, not to damage the building.