People v. Latham

In People v. Latham (234 AD2d 864 [3d Dept 1996]) the Third Department ruled that the trial court erred in permitting the prosecution to introduce defendant's plea admissions to attempted murder at a subsequent murder trial. The ruling was premised upon the Court's determination that use of a plea allocution at a subsequent trial is a direct consequence of a guilty plea and thus a trial court has a duty to advise a defendant that his plea allocution could be used against him at a subsequent trial. (Id. at 865.) However, defendant does not argue that this ruling is binding precedent and even concedes that the instant consequence of defendant's plea is a collateral consequence. Even had defendant relied upon the Third Department's ruling, I would have concluded that it is not controlling authority on this issue because the Third Department's decision was reversed on other grounds by the Court of Appeals, thus rendering the language in the Third Department's decision that this particular consequence is a direct consequence of a plea mere dicta.