| People v Thompson |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 04734 [51 AD3d 951] |
| May 20, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Kenyan Thompson, Appellant. |
—[*1] Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Victor Barall ofcounsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Heffernan,J.), rendered March 29, 2006, convicting him of criminal sale of a controlled substance in thethird degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant contends that the trial court's ruling on the People's reverse-Batsonchallenge (see Batson v Kentucky, 476 US 79 [1986]) was in error. We disagree. Theprosecutor raised a reverse-Batson challenge, and the trial court determined that withrespect to one peremptory strike, defense counsel's proffered explanation was pretextual (seePeople v Payne, 88 NY2d 172, 181 [1996]; People v Allen, 86 NY2d 101, 104[1995]). The trial court is in the best position to assess the credibility of counsel's explanations(see Hernandez v New York, 500 US 352, 364 [1991]; People v Jeffreys, 258AD2d 474, 475 [1999]). We discern no basis in the record to disturb the trial court's credibilityassessment and determination (see People v Chapman, 295 AD2d 359 [2002]; Peoplev Grier, 261 AD2d 555 [1999]; People v Garrastazu, 238 AD2d 354 [1997]).
The defendant's remaining contentions are without merit. Prudenti, P.J., Mastro, Miller andCarni, JJ., concur.