People v. Newton
| Decision Date | 07 March 1988 |
| Citation | 525 N.Y.S.2d 699,138 A.D.2d 415 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Mark NEWTON, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Owen W. Daley, Brooklyn, for appellant.
Elizabeth Holtzman, Dist. Atty., Brooklyn (Barbara D. Underwood and Richard T. Faughnan, of counsel; Nancy A. Streeff, on the brief), for respondent.
Before THOMPSON, J.P., and BRACKEN, RUBIN and EIBER, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Goldstein, J.), rendered March 22, 1984, convicting him of attempted murder in the second degree (two counts), assault in the first degree, robbery in the first degree (two counts), and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing consecutive terms of 12 1/2 to 25 years imprisonment for each count of attempted murder, concurrent prison terms of 5 to 15 years imprisonment for the assault count, 12 1/2 to 25 years imprisonment for each robbery count and 2 1/3 to 7 years for the criminal possession of a weapon count.
ORDERED that the judgment is modified, on the law, by reducing the minimum term of each of the sentences imposed upon the defendant's conviction of two counts of attempted murder in the second degree from 12 1/2 years to 8 1/3 years; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant's claim that he was denied effective assistance of counsel is without merit. All but one of his alleged errors were trial tactics by defense counsel which should not be questioned on hindsight ( see, People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137, 444 N.Y.S.2d 893, 429 N.E.2d 400). From the one instance where the defense counsel did not understand the necessity and procedure for laying a foundation for the admission of prior inconsistent statements, it cannot be said that the defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel. Rather, the evidence, the law and the circumstances of the case, viewed in totality and as of the time of the representation, reveal that the attorney provided meaningful representation and that the constitutional requirement was met (see, People v. Baldi, supra; People v. Droz, 39 N.Y.2d 457, 384 N.Y.S.2d 404, 348 N.E.2d 880). It is clear that the defense counsel had taken the time to review and prepare the law and the facts relevant to the defense, and was familiar with and able to employ at trial the basic principles of criminal law and procedure (see, People v. Droz, supra ).
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Stewart v. Scully
...when sentenced nor was the crime of attempted murder in the second degree an armed felony offense (CPL 1.20; see, People v. Newton, 138 A.D.2d 415, 525 N.Y.S.2d 699). If a court is unable to impose the promised sentence, the defendant must be offered the opportunity to withdraw his plea and......
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Vega v. Fischer, 04 Civ. 7991(RJH).
...counsel despite failure to lay the proper foundation to impeach an alleged prior inconsistent statement); People v. Newton, 138 A.D.2d 415, 416, 525 N.Y.S.2d 699 (N.Y.App.Div.1988) Finally, Marengo's overall performance was not ineffective. See Lindstadt, 239 F.3d at 203 (acknowledging diff......
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People v. Pride
...1.20[41]; People v. King, 155 A.D.2d 480, 547 N.Y.S.2d 140; People v. Bartlett, 146 A.D.2d 705, 706, 537 N.Y.S.2d 58; People v. Newton, 138 A.D.2d 415, 525 N.Y.S.2d 699). Accordingly, the minimum term of the sentence on the attempted murder counts should be reduced from 12 1/2 to 8 1/3 year......
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People v. Stewart
...when sentenced nor was the crime of attempted murder in the second degree an armed felony offense (CPL 1.20[41]; see, People v. Newton, 138 A.D.2d 415, 525 N.Y.S.2d 699). If a court is unable to impose the promised sentence, the defendant must be offered the opportunity to withdraw his plea......