People v. Crespo

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Thomas A. Farber, J.), rendered December 19, 2014, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a persistent violent felony offender, to concurrent terms of 20 years to life and 3V2 to 7 years, respectively, unanimously reversed, on the law, and the matter remanded for a new trial.

Prior to the start of jury selection, defendant’s counsel moved to withdraw, telling the trial court that defendant would no longer speak with him. The court denied…