People v. Haywood

128 A.D.3d 560, 8 N.Y.S.3d 563

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Maxwell L. Wiley, J.), rendered November 2, 2011, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third and fourth degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 2V2 years, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant did not preserve his challenge to references at trial to his allegedly prejudicial nickname, and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we find no basis for reversal. Defendant was not deprived of a fair trial, and any error was harmless because there was overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt (see People v Santiago, 255 AD2d 63, 66 [1st Dept 1999], lv denied 94 NY2d 829 [1999]). Although defendant argues that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to object to mention of the nickname, we find that, to the extent the existing record permits review, defendant received effective assistance under the state and federal standards (see People v Benevento, 91 NY2d 708, 713-714 [1998]; Strickland v Washington, 466 US 668 [1984]). Concur — Tom, J.P., Friedman, DeGrasse, Richter and Kapnick, JJ.