Opinion
2011-12-13
The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Tyrel CASON, appellant.
Peter A. Sell, New York, N.Y., for appellant. Kathleen M. Rice, District Attorney, Mineola, N.Y. (Yael V. Levy, Kelley E. Walsh, and Jessica H. Zafonte of counsel), for respondent.
Peter A. Sell, New York, N.Y., for appellant. Kathleen M. Rice, District Attorney, Mineola, N.Y. (Yael V. Levy, Kelley E. Walsh, and Jessica H. Zafonte of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Carter, J.), rendered April 27, 2007, convicting him of manslaughter in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
“The right to effective assistance of counsel is guaranteed by the Federal and State Constitutions” ( People v. Rivera, 71 N.Y.2d 705, 708, 530 N.Y.S.2d 52, 525 N.E.2d 698; see U.S. Const. Sixth Amend.; N.Y. Const., art. I, § 6; People v. Bowles, 89 A.D.3d 171, 932 N.Y.S.2d 112). Under the New York State standard for the effective assistance of counsel, “[s]o long as the evidence, the law, and the circumstances of a particular case, viewed in totality and as of the time of the representation, reveal that the attorney provided meaningful representation, the constitutional requirement will have been met” ( People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137, 147, 444 N.Y.S.2d 893, 429 N.E.2d 400; see People v. Bernardez, 85 A.D.3d 936, 937, 925 N.Y.S.2d 604, lv. denied *336 17 N.Y.3d 857, 932 N.Y.S.2d 22, 956 N.E.2d 803). Contrary to the defendant's contention, he was not deprived of the effective assistance of counsel. Upon reviewing the record here, we find that counsel provided meaningful representation insofar as he employed “a trial strategy that might well have been pursued by a reasonably competent attorney” ( People v. Evans, 16 N.Y.3d 571, 575, 925 N.Y.S.2d 366, 949 N.E.2d 457 [internal quotation marks omitted], cert. denied ––– U.S. ––––, 132 S.Ct. 325, ––– L.Ed.2d ––––; see People v. Benevento, 91 N.Y.2d 708, 712, 674 N.Y.S.2d 629, 697 N.E.2d 584; People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d at 147, 444 N.Y.S.2d 893, 429 N.E.2d 400; People v. Gerrara, 88 A.D.3d 811, 930 N.Y.S.2d 646). Further, the defendant was not deprived of the effective assistance of counsel under the Federal Constitution ( see Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674).
The sentence imposed was not excessive ( see People v. Delgado, 80 N.Y.2d 780, 783, 587 N.Y.S.2d 271, 599 N.E.2d 675; People v. Mulleavey, 50 A.D.3d 826, 827, 854 N.Y.S.2d 319; People v. Miranda, 213 A.D.2d 560, 561, 624 N.Y.S.2d 436; People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, 455 N.Y.S.2d 675).