People v Guadmuz
2009 NY Slip Op 05570 [63 AD3d 1178]
June 30, 2009
Appellate Division, Second Department
As corrected through Wednesday, August 5, 2009


The People of the State of New York,Respondent,
v
Carlos Guadmuz, Appellant.

[*1]Patrick Michael Megaro, Hempstead, N.Y., for appellant.

Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M. Castellano, Sharon Y.Brodt, and Rebecca Kramer of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Roman,J.), rendered July 3, 2008, convicting him of robbery in the first degree, robbery in the seconddegree (two counts), criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, and criminalpossession of stolen property in the fifth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant was not denied the effective assistance of counsel due to an alleged conflict ofinterest. A defendant alleging ineffective assistance of counsel based on a conflict of interestmust do more than show that defense counsel had a potential conflict of interest. To prevail, thedefendant must establish that the conflict of interest in fact affected the conduct of his or herdefense (see People v Abar, 99 NY2d 406 [2003]; People v Longtin, 92 NY2d640, 644 [1998], cert denied 526 US 1114 [1999]; People v Alicea, 61 NY2d 23,31 [1983]). The defendant failed to do so here (see People v Jordan, 83 NY2d 785, 787[1994]).

The defendant's challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence is unpreserved forappellate review, since he failed to address any specific ground as a basis for dismissal in theSupreme Court (see CPL 470.05 [2]; People v Hawkins, 11 NY3d 484, 491-492[2008]; People v Lawson, 40 AD3d 657 [2007]). In any event, viewing the evidence inthe light most favorable to the prosecution (see People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620 [1983]),we find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,based upon an acting-in-concert theory (see Penal Law § 20.00). Santucci, J.P.,Covello, Leventhal and Belen, JJ., concur.


NYPTI Decisions © 2026 is a project of New York Prosecutors Training Institute (NYPTI) made possible by leveraging the work we've done providing online research and tools to prosecutors.

NYPTI would like to thank New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, New York State Senate's Open Legislation Project, New York State Unified Court System, New York State Law Reporting Bureau and Free Law Project for their invaluable assistance making this project possible.

Install the free RECAP extensions to help contribute to this archive. See https://free.law/recap/ for more information.