People v. Cotto

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

People v. Cotto

259 A.D.2d 288, 687 N.Y.S.2d 85, 1999 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2279

CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York

DecidedMarch 4, 1999

StatusPublished

Cited by3 cases

This text of 259 A.D.2d 288 (People v. Cotto) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

People v. Cotto, 259 A.D.2d 288, 687 N.Y.S.2d 85, 1999 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2279 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1999).

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Opinion

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Herbert Altman, J.), entered on or about August 7, 1997, which denied defendant’s motion made pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate a judgment (same court and Justice), rendered December 11, 1987, convicting defendant of murder in the second degree and sentencing her to a term of 16 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The motion to vacate was properly denied. The record supports the court’s detailed findings and its conclusion that defendant received effective assistance of trial counsel. Each of [289]*289trial counsel’s alleged deficiencies in his conduct of defendant’s extreme emotional disturbance defense (see, Penal Law § 125.25 [1] [a]) had a plausible strategic explanation, and, in any event, these deficiencies could not have deprived defendant of a fair trial (see, People v Benevento, 91 NY2d 708). The motion was properly denied without an evidentiary hearing (see, People v Satterfield, 66 NY2d 796, 799) because trial counsel, the only person who could have provided any material information not already before the motion court, was deceased. We have considered and rejected defendant’s remaining arguments. Concur — Rosenberger, J. P., Nardelli, Lerner and Saxe, JJ.

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Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Herbert Altman, J.), entered on or about August 7, 1997, which denied defendant’s motion made pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate a judgment (same court and Justice), rendered December 11, 1987, convicting defendant of murder in the second degree and sentencing her to a term of 16 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The motion to vacate was properly denied. The record supports the court’s detailed findings and its conclusion that defendant received effective assistance of trial counsel. Each of [289]*289trial counsel’s alleged deficiencies in his conduct of defendant’s extreme emotional disturbance defense (see, Penal Law § 125.25 [1] [a]) had a plausible strategic explanation, and, in any event, these deficiencies could not have deprived defendant of a fair trial (see, People v Benevento, 91 NY2d 708). The motion was properly denied without an evidentiary hearing (see, People v Satterfield, 66 NY2d 796, 799) because trial counsel, the only person who could have provided any material information not already before the motion court, was deceased. We have considered and rejected defendant’s remaining arguments. Concur — Rosenberger, J. P., Nardelli, Lerner and Saxe, JJ.

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Bluebook (online)

259 A.D.2d 288, 687 N.Y.S.2d 85, 1999 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cotto-nyappdiv-1999.

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