Opinion
03-15-2024
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Shardea BRADLEY, Also Known as Alberto Henriquez, Defendant-Appellant.
DAVID M. GIGLIO, UTICA, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. SANDRA DOORLEY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, ROCHESTER (MERIDETH H. SMITH OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Monroe County (Thomas E. Moran, J.), rendered January 23, 2017. The judgment convicted defendant upon a jury verdict of assault in the first degree.
DAVID M. GIGLIO, UTICA, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
SANDRA DOORLEY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, ROCHESTER (MERIDETH H. SMITH OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
PRESENT: WHALEN, P.J., BANNISTER, GREENWOOD, AND KEANE, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting her upon a jury verdict of assault in the first degree (Penal Law § 120.10 [1]), defendant contends that she was denied effective assistance of counsel based on defense counsel’s failure to request a justification charge. We reject that contention. At the trial, defense counsel pursued a theory that defendant was innocent of the charged crime inasmuch as it was her codefendant who stabbed the victim. Under these circumstances, we con- elude that "defense counsel’s decision to advance the [innocence] defense ‘was consistent with strategic decisions of a reasonably competent attorney’ " (People v. Ortiz, 167 A.D.3d 1562, 1563, 90 N.Y.S.3d 793 [4th Dept. 2018], lv denied 33 N.Y.3d 979, 101 N.Y.S.3d 235, 124 N.E.3d 724 [2019], quoting People v. Benevento, 91 N.Y.2d 708, 712, 674 N.Y.S.2d 629, 697 N.E.2d 584 [1998]) inasmuch as the justification defense "would have been weak, at best, and … might have undermined a stronger defense" (People v. Richardson, 174 A.D.3d 1535, 1536, 103 N.Y.S.3d 328 [4th Dept. 2019], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 983, 113 N.Y.S.3d 635, 137 N.E.3d 5 [2019] [internal quotation marks omitted]).