Fidel Padilla - Inadequate Counsel

Padilla, Fidel ; reckless endangerment; NRE: plea, no crime, inadequate legal defense, prosecutor misconduct, withheld exculpatory evidence, misconduct that is not withholding evidence

[986:867]; Rockland Cty. Ct. 1/24/14; motion to vacate plea granted

"[This case] arises out of an incident that took place on January 16, 2012 in the Village of West Haverstraw. Defendant Fidel Padilla...owner of...F.G.C. Communications...was performing excavation work as a subcontractor for Verizon Fios on Zarriello Lane when he ruptured a gas line causing an explosion, which in turn, caused the destruction of a residence and injured two gas servicement and two firefighters....On May 18, 2012...Padilla entered a plea of guilty...to Reckless Endangerment...Padilla also entered a plea of guilty on behalf of FGC...to Assault...Within one month of entering their guilty pleas, defendants thereafter filed a motion to withdraw their pleas, claiming that their pleas were not voluntary, knowingly and intelligently entered. Specifically, defendants argue, inter alia, that they entered their pleas under duress and coercion and that the pleas were not knowingly entered due to a report that Padilla became aware of after his plea that bears directly on his alleged criminal conduct. According to Padilla, this report further supports his claimed and continuous claims of innocence."

"The evidence produced at the [motion for plea withdrawal] hearing, which lends some support to Padilla's claims of innocence and coercion, coupled with Padilla's cntinued assertion of innocence as well as his prompt request to withdraw his plea, all convince this Court 'that the interests of justice will best be served by permitting the defendant[s] to withdraw [their] pleas. . .'...Moreover, the Court also finds that the [prosecution's] failure to follow the mandates of the Criminal Procedure Law...raises concerns as to whether Padilla could have knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently entered a plea of guilty...Specifically, the [prosecution] disregarded the criminal procedures in the manner in which Padilla was charged, brought before the Court and waived Grand Jury presentment."

"The 'felony complaints' filed against Padilla and FGC do not contain a factual part and therefore do not supply sufficient evidence of the alleged criminal conduct."

"Padilla, who was communicating to the Court through an interpreter, indicated to the Court that he did not read or write English. Yet, considering the barrage of documents that were handed to the Court that day...nowhere in the plea minutes does it indicate that the interpreter furnished those English-written materials into Spanish."

NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"Padilla claimed that before going to the site, he had called 811, a federally-designated 'Call Before You Dig' number that is designed to prevent homeowners and professionals from damaging utility lines. Anyone who plans to dig for construction work is required to call the number before any digging or excavation so that utility workers can go to the location with spray paint and flags, and mark the location of gas and electrical lines.

"Padilla said that he made the call and after a conversation with utility company officials, waited several days and then only dug in an area where there were no markers indicating the presence of gas lines."

"Prior to...sentencing...Padilla filed a motion to withdraw the guilty pleas after lerning that the New York Public Service Commission, the state agency that oversees utilities, had cited the gas company, Orange and Rockland Utilities, for marking the wrong spot as the location of the gas line in response to Padilla's 811 call. The citation was issued on May 11, 2012; one week before the guilty pleas. The citation was based on an investigative report prepared by commission investigators two months earlier. That investigative report said that in response to notification from Padilla, the utility began marking the location of gas and electric lines on January 4, 2012, but stopped before completion because of 'multiple complaints from community residents about excess paint on the street.'"

"In the motion to withdraw the guilty pleas, Padilla claimed that he was coerced to plead guilty because the prosecutor threatened that if he did not plead guilty, the prosecutor would file charges that could result in his deportation. The prosecution did not disclose the Public Service Commission citation before Padilla's guilty plea, and Padilla's attorney had not discovered that the citation had been issued."

[All emphases added unless otherwise noted.]