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People v. Obair

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 28, 1988
138 A.D.2d 750 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988)

Opinion

March 28, 1988

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Calabretta, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defense counsel failed to preserve his objection to having the nine-year-old complainant sworn as a witness. Therefore, the issue is unpreserved for our review (CPL 470.05). In any event, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in deeming the complainant qualified to be sworn as a witness since he adequately demonstrated his ability to understand the nature of an oath (see, People v. Parks, 41 N.Y.2d 36; People v. Boyd, 122 A.D.2d 273).

Although the defendant's original counsel failed to renew his application for a Mapp hearing after leave had been granted by the Supreme Court, that failure did not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel (see, People v. Panzarino, 131 A.D.2d 788, lv denied 70 N.Y.2d 753; People v. Elliott, 124 A.D.2d 673, lv denied 69 N.Y.2d 879). Moreover, although his trial counsel could have been more vigilant in objecting to various comments and questions made by the prosecutor, we cannot say that the defendant was denied his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel (see, People v. Chang, 129 A.D.2d 722, lv denied 70 N.Y.2d 644). Viewed in their totality, the defense counsel's efforts on behalf of the defendant afforded him "meaningful representation" (see, People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137, 147).

We find the defendant's remaining contentions to be unpreserved for appellate review and, in any event, without merit. Thompson, J.P., Weinstein, Rubin and Harwood, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Obair

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 28, 1988
138 A.D.2d 750 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988)
Case details for

People v. Obair

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. PAUL OBAIR, Appellant

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Mar 28, 1988

Citations

138 A.D.2d 750 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988)

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