Man convicted of strangulation and attempted rape to challenge guilty plea

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> A man who was convicted and sentenced by former Judge Donald A. Williams for the strangulation and attempted rape of a pregnant woman has been granted the right to challenge his guilty plea because records from the case are missing.

Sampson Cox, 42, formerly of Broadway, Kingston, is currently serving a sentence of 12 years to life in state prison. He was sentenced in 2013 by Williams. Cox pleaded guilty in January of that year to the felonies of strangulation and attempted rape.

He was arrested by Kingston police on Dec. 15, 2011, after an alleged attack on a pregnant woman.

Cox is eligible for parole in December, according to state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision records.

On appeal, Cox contends that the transcript of the plea proceedings conducted in January 2013 is unavailable “despite efforts undertaken to locate said minutes and that prosecution of his direct appeal had been delayed due to the absence of such transcript,” according to a memorandum decision handed down Thursday by the state Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department.

In March 2022, County Judge Brian Rounds ruled that Cox had “failed to advance any basis for why the transcript of the plea proceedings was necessary to pursue his claims upon direct appeal of the conviction,” the decision states.

But Cox has appealed both the conviction and Rounds’ ruling and “challenges the voluntariness of his guilty plea, which he claims was defective in several respects,” the decision states.

In granting Cox a reconstruction hearing, the court stated that “the transcript of the January 16, 2013 plea proceeding is unavailable, and we are therefore unable to determine whether defendant’s plea was knowing and voluntary.” The court continued, stating that, “Without the plea minutes, we are also unable to conclusively determine whether defendant preserved his claim” with an appropriate motion.

“We therefore hold the case in abeyance, reserve decision, and remit the matter to County Court for a reconstruction hearing with respect to the plea proceedings,” the court wrote.