People v. Rutledge

279 A.D.2d 420, 719 N.Y.S.2d 573, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 932

Opinion

Judgments, Supreme Court, New York County (Bonnie Wittner, J.), rendered October 13, 1998, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the first and third degrees, and, upon his plea of guilty, of burglary in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 12 years, 3V2 to 7 years and 21/s to 7 years, unanimously affirmed.

Under the circumstances of this case, defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim would require a motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 for the purpose of determining whether the alleged error was part of a deliberate strategy (see, People v Rivera, 71 NY2d 705, 708). Were we to review this claim on the present record, we would find that defendant received meaningful representation (see, People v Benevento, 91 NY2d 708, 713-714). Counsel’s references during summation to prior incidents between defendant and the complainant appear to have been designed to sow confusion about the complainant’s credibility at a stage of trial where the People would be denied the opportunity to elicit clarifying details. Concur — Sullivan, P. J., Andrias, Wallach, Saxe and Friedman, JJ.