Fourth Department — Effective Assistance: People v. Carter

Appellate Division, Fourth Department

Effective Assistance

Identification

People v. Carter
KA 08-02220
Appealed from Supreme Court, Monroe County

Background: The defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree and robbery in the first degree after a jury trial. On appeal, he contended that he was denied effective assistance because of defense counsel’s failure to renew the motion for a trial order of dismissal, thus not allowing appellate review of the issue of legal sufficiency of the evidence. He further contended that defense counsel’s failure to preserve whether a robbery indictment was duplicitous also amounted ineffective assistance. The defendant also contended that the court erred in allowing the eyewitness to identify him from only a single photograph.

Ruling: The defendant was not denied effective assistance because a renewed motion for dismissal would likely not have been favorable. Similarly, the contention that a robbery indictment was duplicitous lacked merit and, therefore, defense counsel’s failure to preserve the issue did not amount to deprivation of effective counsel.  Likewise, allowing identification by the eyewitness from a single photograph was not in error because the witness knew the defendant from his neighborhood, was familiar with the other perpetrators, and had interacted with the defendant on the day of the crime.

Kathleen P. Reardon for the defendant; Matthew Dunham for the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office