People v. Ortiz

302 A.D.2d 257, 754 N.Y.S.2d 538, 2003 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1482

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Michael Gross, J.), rendered November 9, 2000, 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 degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 5 to 10 years, unanimously affirmed.

The record establishes that defendant received meaningful representation at trial (see People v Benevento, 91 NY2d 708, 713-714). Since young persons do not constitute a cognizable group with regard to discrimination in jury selection (see Johnson v McCaughtry, 92 F3d 585, 590-595, cert denied 519 US 1034, and cases cited therein), defendant could not have been deprived of effective assistance by his counsel’s failure to make an application pursuant to Batson v Kentucky (476 US 79) on age discrimination grounds.

The court’s Sandoval ruling balanced the appropriate factors and was a proper exercise of discretion (see People v Hayes, 97 NY2d 203; People v Walker, 83 NY2d 455, 458-459). The court properly permitted a brief inquiry into the underlying facts of defendant’s youthful offender adjudication, which involved criminal possession of a weapon, since defendant’s conduct in that instance was relevant to his credibility. Concur — Andrias, J.P., Sullivan, Rosenberger, Friedman and Gonzalez, JJ.