People v. Walker
Full Opinion (html_with_citations)
Appeal from a judgment of the Orleans County Court (James E Punch, J.), rendered August 7, 2006. The judgment convicted defendant upon a jury verdict of, inter alia, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum; On appeal from a judgment convicting him upon a jury verdict of, inter alia, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (Penal Law § 220.16 [1]) and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree (§ 220.09 [1]), defendant contends that the evidence is legally insufficient to support the conviction because the testimony of the accomplice was neither credible nor sufficiently corroborated. Defendant failed to preserve that contention for our review (see People v Gray, 86 NY2d 10, 19 [1995]; People v Moses, 23 AD3d 283 [2005], lv denied 6 NY3d 815 [2006]; People v Parsons, 275 AD2d 933, 934 [2000], lv denied 95 NY2d 937 [2000], cert denied 532 US 998 [2001]) and, in any event, it is without merit (see generally People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987]). The testimony of the accomplice that defendant
Contrary to the contention of defendant in his pro se supplemental brief, County Court did not abuse its discretion in declining to address his pro se motions (see People v Rodriguez, 95 NY2d 497, 502-503 [2000]; People v Lockett, 1 AD3d 932, 933 [2003] , lv denied 1 NY3d 630 [2004]). Defendant failed to preserve for our review the contention in his main brief that he was denied a fair trial based on a remark made by the prosecutor during summation (see People v Dillon, 38 AD3d 1211 [2007]; People v Black, 38 AD3d 1283, 1286 [2007], lv denied 8 NY3d 982 [2007]), and he also failed to preserve for our review the contention in his pro se supplemental brief that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct during the grand jury proceeding (see CPL 470.05 [2]). In any event, those contentions are without merit. The prosecutor’s isolated remark during summation was not so egregious or improper as to deny defendant a fair trial (see People v Dexter, 259 AD2d 952, 954 [1999], affd 94 NY2d 847 [1999]; Black, 38 AD3d at 1286), and none of the prosecutor’s allegedly improper actions during the grand jury proceeding rendered the indictment defective (see People v Huston, 88 NY2d 400, 408-409 [1996]).
Finally, we reject the contention of defendant in both his main brief and pro se supplemental brief that he was denied effective assistance of counsel (see generally People v Baldi, 54 NY2d 137, 147 [1981]). Contrary to the contention of defendant in his main brief, defense counsel’s failure to object to the prosecutor’s allegedly improper remark during summation did not amount to ineffective assistance of counsel (see People v Gonzalez, 44 AD3d 790 [2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 1006 [2007]).