People v. Thomas

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (William A. Wetzel, J.), rendered March 26, 2001, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 2 to 4 years, unanimously reversed, on the law, and the matter remanded for a new trial.

Although the court properly relieved defendant’s retained counsel, over defendant’s objection, after making findings on the record detailing counsel’s pattern of prolonged unavailability for trial due to other engagements and illness (see People v Bracy, 261 AD2d 180 [1999], lv denied 93 NY2d 966 [1999]; compare…