Opinion
2014-09-24
The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. William S. McDANIEL, appellant.
James Layton Koenig, New York, N.Y., for appellant. Kenneth P. Thompson, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Adam M. Koelsch of counsel), for respondent.
James Layton Koenig, New York, N.Y., for appellant. Kenneth P. Thompson, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Adam M. Koelsch of counsel), for respondent.
Appeals by the defendant (1) from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Del Giudice, J.), rendered August 3, 2009, convicting him of rape in the second degree (two counts), rape in the third degree, and criminal sexual act in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence, and (2), by permission, from an order of the same court dated December 15, 2010, which denied his motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate the judgment of conviction.
ORDERED that the judgment and the order are affirmed.
The Supreme Court properly denied the defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate the judgment of conviction on the ground that he was deprived of the effective assistance of trial counsel. The evidence presented by the defendant failed to demonstrate the absence of strategic or other legitimate explanations for counsel's allegedly deficient conduct ( see People v. Caban, 5 N.Y.3d 143, 152, 800 N.Y.S.2d 70, 833 N.E.2d 213; People v. Britton, 49 A.D.3d 893, 853 N.Y.S.2d 897; People v. Jordan, 44 A.D.3d 875, 843 N.Y.S.2d 450). The evidence, the law, and the circumstances of the case, viewed in totality as of the time of the representation, reveal that trial counsel provided meaningful representation ( see People v. Benevento, 91 N.Y.2d 708, 712, 674 N.Y.S.2d 629, 697 N.E.2d 584; People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137, 147, 444 N.Y.S.2d 893, 429 N.E.2d 400).
The sentence imposed was not excessive ( see People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, 455 N.Y.S.2d 675). SKELOS, J.P., DICKERSON, AUSTIN and DUFFY, JJ., concur.