People State New York v. Sylvester Howard

The defendant was convicted in 1955, following a trial at which he was represented by counsel, of several counts of robbery and assault. He took no appeal from the judgment of conviction. Six years later, however, he instituted this coram nobis proceeding, alleging, in effect, that a statement which the prosecution used at his trial had been procured from him not only by force and threats but through interrogation, in the absence of counsel, after he had been indicted. The County Court to which the application was addressed denied the petition, holding that the defendant's sole remedy was by appeal from the judgment of conviction. The Appellate Division, taking a different view, reversed and directed a hearing; after noting that post-indictment questioning of a defendant in the absence of an attorney violated his right to the assistance of counsel, the court concluded that such a violation entitled him to coram nobis relief.