PRESS RELEASE
TO: ALL NEWS MEDIA
FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DATE: FEBRUARY 7, 2019
The Appellate Division, Third Department has unanimously affirmed the August, 2015 conviction of Arthur Mercer upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.
Defendant’s most recent conviction stems from a sale of cocaine he made to a confidential informant in the City of Kingston on March 11, 2014 which was witnessed by an undercover officer. Defendant later pled guilty to that charge and at that time, waived his right to appeal. He was subsequently sentenced as a second felony offender to six years in State prison followed by three years of postrelease supervision.
On appeal, defendant claimed that his guilty plea was not knowing, voluntary and intelligent because he suffers from bipolar disorder and was not taking his prescribed medication at the time of his plea. Defendant also maintained that he was denied meaningful representation because neither of the two attorneys who represented him made a motion to withdraw his plea based on his mental illness. The Appellate Division, Third Department, however, determined that both of these claims were unpreserved for review given defendant’s failure to make an appropriate post-judgment motion.
On appeal, the defendant is represented by Kathy Manley, Esq. of Selkirk, New York. Assistant District Attorney Joan Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.