Opinion
Argued June 28, 1999
October 21, 1999
Martin Geduldig, Hicksville, N.Y., for appellant.
Eliot L. Spitzer, Attorney-General, New York, N.Y. (Lawrence N. Gray, Michael Berlowitz, and Donald H. Zuckerman of counsel), for respondent.
DAVID S. RITTER, J.P., GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, ANITA R. FLORIO, SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Posner, J.), rendered February 6, 1998, convicting him of grand larceny in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant contends that he was denied his right to be present at off-the-record sidebar discussions conducted during the course of the trial. A defendant must provide an adequate record for determining whether he or she was wrongfully excluded from a material stage of the trial (see, People v. Maher, 89 N.Y.2d 318 ; see also, People v. Kinchen, 60 N.Y.2d 772, 773 ). Here, since the record fails to disclose whether or not the defendant was present during the subject sidebar conferences, meaningful appellate review of this issue is precluded (see, People v. Rodriguez, 251 A.D.2d 603 ;People v. Vanegas, 237 A.D.2d 469 ; People v. McCargo, 219 A.D.2d 683 ). In any event, the defendant was not entitled to be present at any of the subject sidebar conferences. None of the conferences implicated his peculiar factual knowledge or presented the potential for his meaningful participation (see, People v. Rodriguez, 85 N.Y.2d 586 ; People v. Williams, 85 N.Y.2d 945; People v. Velasco, 77 N.Y.2d 469, 472 ).
The defendant's contention that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel is without merit (see, People v. Benevento, 91 N.Y.2d 708 ; People v. Flores, 84 N.Y.2d 184 ; People v. Satterfield, 66 N.Y.2d 796 ; People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137 ; People v. Wicker, 229 A.D.2d 602 ; People v. Sullivan, 153 A.D.2d 223 ).
The defendant's remaining contentions are without merit.
RITTER, J.P., KRAUSMAN, FLORIO, and FEUERSTEIN, JJ., concur.