Opinion
2016-03007 Ind. No. 618/14
02-06-2019
The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Scott A. GREENE, Appellant.
Laurette D. Mulry, Riverhead, N.Y. (Louis E. Mazzola of counsel), for appellant. Timothy D. Sini, District Attorney, Riverhead, N.Y. (Grazia DiVincenzo of counsel), for respondent.
Laurette D. Mulry, Riverhead, N.Y. (Louis E. Mazzola of counsel), for appellant.
Timothy D. Sini, District Attorney, Riverhead, N.Y. (Grazia DiVincenzo of counsel), for respondent.
RUTH C. BALKIN, J.P., LEONARD B. AUSTIN, FRANCESCA E. CONNOLLY, LINDA CHRISTOPHER, JJ.
DECISION & ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant's contention that the County Court erred in granting his retained counsel's request to be relieved is not preserved for appellate review (see People v. Tineo , 64 N.Y.2d 531, 535–536, 490 N.Y.S.2d 159, 479 N.E.2d 795 ), and we decline to review the defendant's contention pursuant to our interest of justice jurisdiction. Likewise, the defendant failed to preserve for appellate review his contention that the court later improperly terminated the assignment of his assigned counsel on the court's own motion (see CPL 470.05 ), and we decline to review that contention in the interest of justice.
We agree with the County Court's determination granting the People's reverse-Batson challenge (see Batson v. Kentucky , 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 ) to the defendant's exercise of a peremptory challenge to one of the prospective jurors. The court's determination that the facially neutral explanation given for the defendant's peremptory challenges to that potential juror was pretextual is entitled to great deference on appeal and will not be disturbed where, as here, the determination is supported by the record (see People v. Santos , 150 A.D.3d 1270, 1271, 52 N.Y.S.3d 885 ).
BALKIN, J.P., AUSTIN, CONNOLLY and CHRISTOPHER, JJ., concur.