People v. Richetti

In 1949, this defendant, confined in Dannemora Prison, moved in the County Court of Queens County (by a “ coram nobis ” type application), to set aside a 1922 judgment of that court convicting him of, and sentencing him for, two felonies. Defendant’s stated grounds were two: first, that his 1922 sentence was void in that, at the time he (then seventeen years old) pleaded guilty he was in no wise informed of his right to have counsel; and, second, that a probation officer had informed defendant that because of defendant’s youth, the County Judge would probably put defendant on probation if he…