Opinion
1997-11359
Submitted June 11, 2002
August 19, 2002.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Orange County (Berry, J.), rendered December 9, 1997, convicting him of attempted assault in the first degree, attempted assault in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and reckless endangerment in the first degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
David L. Rich, Hawthorne, N.Y., for appellant, and appellant pro se.
Francis D. Phillips II, District Attorney, Goshen, N.Y. (David R. Huey of counsel), for respondent.
Before: DAVID S. RITTER, J.P., SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, NANCY E. SMITH, THOMAS A. ADAMS, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant's contention that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel is without merit. A defendant's right to effective assistance of counsel is satisfied when, under the totality of circumstances existing at the time of representation, counsel provided the defendant with "meaningful representation" (People v Benevento, 91 N.Y.2d 708, 712). The test is one of reasonable competence, not perfect representation (see People v Modica, 64 N.Y.2d 828, 829; People v Benevento, supra). Thus, a reviewing court must avoid confusing "true ineffectiveness with mere losing tactics and according undue significance to retrospective analysis" (People v Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137, 146). In light of all of the circumstances involved in this case, we conclude that the defendant was provided with meaningful representation.
The contentions raised by the defendant in his supplemental pro se brief are without merit.
RITTER, J.P., FEUERSTEIN, SMITH and ADAMS, JJ., concur.