Appellate court upholds conviction in weapons case

A state appellate court upheld the 2014 conviction of a Lake Katrine man in a weapons possession case.

A state appellate court has unanimously upheld the 2014 Ulster County Court conviction of a Lake Katrine man in a weapons possession case, despite his claim of police misconduct.

Ciayan O. London, 42, pleaded guilty in 2014 and waived his right to appeal, according to a decision handed down Thursday by the state Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department.

London’s guilty plea, according to the appeals court, was in satisfaction of three other potential felony charges. In exchange, County Court Judge Donald A. Williams promised to impose a prison term of 3 ½ to seven years and the prosecution agreed not to prosecute London’s “girlfriend” and co-defendant Fiamma M. Pliskin-Spadanuta.

Williams then imposed a reduced prison term of two to four years, according to the decision.

On March 21, 2014, London and Pliskin-Spadanuta were arrested by town of Ulster police and city of Kingston police and charged with two felony counts each of possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence, also a felony.

Their apartment was searched by police after a three-week joint investigation into cocaine sales from the residence on Sidden Lane, police said at the time. Officers said they found a handgun in a locked safe in a bedroom closet, cash and drug packaging material and scales during a search of the residence.

London’s “primary argument on appeal is that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel because defense counsel failed to investigate comments made off the record” by police officers in Ulster Town Court at a preliminary hearing, the decision stated.

The alleged comments were first raised by London’s defense attorney at his appearance in county court, the matter was resolved off the record and his claim of ineffective counsel was invalidated by his appeal waiver, according to the decision.

“Even if this claim impacted the voluntariness of his plea, it is unpreserved for our review as defendant, after the issue of potential police misconduct was raised, pleaded guilty” and never moved to withdraw his plea “despite ample opportunity to do so,” the decision concluded.

London’s appellate attorney Cappy Weiner of Kingston said he had not had an opportunity to discuss the decision with his client and did not know if he would “appeal the appeal.”