From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Soto

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 8, 1997
245 A.D.2d 398 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)

Opinion

December 8, 1997

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Gerges, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

We disagree with the defendant's contention that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at a hearing held to determine the circumstances surrounding his leaving a drug rehabilitation program. A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel requires proof of less than meaningful representation rather than simple disagreement with trial strategies and tactics (see, People v. Rivera, 71 N.Y.2d 705, 708; People v. Benn, 68 N.Y.2d 941, 942; People v. Satterfield, 66 N.Y.2d 796, 798). We decline to second-guess defense counsel's decision not to call as a witness the defendant's case manager (see, People v. Bryant, 185 A.D.2d 327).

The court's deferral of sentencing upon the successful completion of the defendant's drug treatment program was not tantamount to illegal interim probation (see, People v. Avery, 85 N.Y.2d 503). Therefore, the court did not err in enhancing the defendant's sentence when he failed to successfully complete the program without offering him the opportunity to withdraw his plea.

The defendant's remaining contention is without merit (see, People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80).

Mangano, P.J., Copertino, Joy, Florio and Luciano, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Soto

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 8, 1997
245 A.D.2d 398 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
Case details for

People v. Soto

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. GEORGE SOTO, Appellant

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Dec 8, 1997

Citations

245 A.D.2d 398 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
667 N.Y.S.2d 756

Citing Cases

People v. Marino

The Supreme Court properly denied the defendant's requests to withdraw his plea ( see People v. Fiumefreddo,…

People v. Bryant

To rebut this presumption, a defendant must prove that the attorney's assistance to the client lacked…