Opinion
KA 02-02080.
November 21, 2003.
Appeal from a judgment of Supreme Court, Onondaga County (Brunetti, J.), entered May 3, 2002, convicting defendant after a jury trial of, inter alia, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
Frank H. Hiscock Legal Aid Society, Syracuse (Gerald T. Barth of Counsel), for Defendant-Appellant.
William J. Fitzpatrick, District Attorney, Syracuse (James P. Maxwell of Counsel), for Plaintiff-Respondent.
Before: Present: Pigott, Jr., P.J., Green, Scudder, Kehoe, and Hayes, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from be and the same hereby is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (Penal Law § 220.16) and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree (§ 220.06 [5]). Contrary to defendant's contention, the evidence is legally sufficient to establish defendant's complicity in the possession of cocaine ( see People v. Miley, 306 A.D.2d 164, 165; People v. Maynard, 294 A.D.2d 866, lv denied 98 N.Y.2d 699; People v. Rodriguez, 259 A.D.2d 571) . Moreover, the verdict is not against the weight of the evidence ( see Miley, 306 A.D.2d at 165; Maynard, 294 A.D.2d at 866; see generally People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495). We reject the contention of defendant that he was deprived of effective assistance of counsel. The evidence, the law, and the circumstances of this case, viewed in totality and as of the time of the representation, establish that defendant received meaningful representation ( see generally People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137, 147; People v. Yelle, 303 A.D.2d 1043, 1044). The "claimed deficiencies in counsel's performance do not undercut" that conclusion ( People v. Benevento, 91 N.Y.2d 708, 714; see People v. Ralston, 303 A.D.2d 1014, 1015, lv denied 100 N.Y.2d 565; People v. Hines, 300 A.D.2d 1036, 1036-1037, lv denied 99 N.Y.2d 615, cert denied ___ US ___, 124 S Ct 211). The sentence is not unduly harsh or severe.