Opinion
98
January 31, 2002.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Michael Gross, J.), rendered April 30, 1998, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of two counts each of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to an aggregate term of 6½ to 13 years, unanimously affirmed.
T. CHARLES WON, for respondent.
ROBERT HEILBRUN, for defendant-appellant.
Before: Tom, J.P., Sullivan, Rosenberger, Wallach, Buckley, JJ.
On the existing record, we find that defendant received meaningful representation (see, People v. Benevento, 91 N.Y.2d 708, 713-714). Counsel's performance was effective, given the difficulty of mounting any kind of a defense in this joint trial of two sales, made on separate days, where prerecorded buy money and additional drugs were recovered from defendant's person on both occasions (see, People v. De Freitas, 213 A.D.2d 96, 101, lv denied 86 N.Y.2d 872). While defendant asserts that a portion of counsel's summation expressed doubt as to the credibility of his own client, the remark in question, when viewed in context, had no such effect.
Defendant's challenges to the People's summation are unpreserved and we decline to review them in the interest of justice. Were we to review these claims, we would find that the challenged remarks drew fair inferences from the evidence in response to defense arguments and did not deprive defendant of a fair trial (see, People v. Overlee, 236 A.D.2d 133,lv denied 91 N.Y.2d 976; People v. D'Alessandro, 184 A.D.2d 114, 118-119, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 884).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.