People v. Ermo

OPINION OF THE COURT

Suozzi, J.

The issue to be decided on this appeal is whether defendant’s waiver of counsel during his questioning on a murder charge was invalid due to the absence of counsel who had been assigned to represent defendant on a separate assault charge.

THE FACTS

Defendant, an 18-year-old with a mild degree of mental retardation, stands convicted of murdering a young girl, one Ursula Schiba, in Poughkeepsie on August 3, 1971, during the commission of the crime of sexual abuse. The conviction was, to a large extent, based upon a series of inculpatory statements that defendant gave…