Durante v. United States

Charged with grand larceny and unauthorized use of an automobile, appellant pleaded not guilty. Three months later at the conclusion of a pretrial “identification” hearing, appellant withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty to the grand larceny charge. The other charge was dismissed. Prior to imposition of sentence appellant through new counsel sought to withdraw his plea of guilty. As grounds for the relief sought, he alleged that at the time of pleading guilty he lacked effective assistance of counsel, that he was in “fear” of the Court, and that he was undergoing…