People v. Rodriguez

2016 NY Slip Op 8333, 145 A.D.3d 529, 41 N.Y.S.3d 887

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Renee A. White, J.), rendered May 20, 2014, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and menacing in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender to an aggregate term of 2 to 4 years, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims are unreviewable on direct appeal because they involve matters of strategy, trial preparation and attorney-client consultations that are not reflected in the record (see People v Rivera, 71 NY2d 705, 709 [1988]; People v Love, 57 NY2d 998 [1982]). Accordingly, since defendant has not made a CPL 440.10 motion, the merits of the ineffectiveness claims may not be addressed on appeal. Defendant may not sidestep the requirement of a CPL 440.10 motion, which carries a number of procedural considerations, by simply asking this Court to remand for a hearing to further develop the record. In the alternative, to the extent the existing record permits review, we find that 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, Saxe, Feinman and Kahn, JJ.