| People v Washington |
| 2014 NY Slip Op 01524 [115 AD3d 451] |
| March 6, 2014 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Kareem Washington, Appellant. |
—[*1] Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Marc I. Eida of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Martin Marcus, J.), rendered August 11,2011, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the first degree, andsentencing him, as a persistent violent felony offender, to a term of 22 years to life,unanimously affirmed.
The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v Danielson, 9NY3d 342, 348-349 [2007]). There is no basis for disturbing the jury'sdeterminations concerning identification and credibility, including its evaluation of prioridentification testimony received pursuant to CPL 60.25. In addition to identificationtestimony, there was circumstantial evidence that strongly linked defendant to the crime,and defendant's attacks on this evidence are unavailing.
Defendant was not deprived of his right to effective, conflict-free representation byhis attorney's brief statement in response to defendant's posttrial motion for reassignmentof counsel prior to sentencing. "Counsel's remarks outlining his efforts on his client'sbehalf cannot be compared to a situation where an attorney becomes a witness against hisclient" (People v Nelson, 27AD3d 287, 287 [1st Dept 2006], affd 7 NY3d 883 [2006]; see also People v Mitchell, 21NY3d 964, 967 [2013]; United States v Moree, 220 F3d 65, 70-72 [2d Cir2000]). Concur—Saxe, J.P., Moskowitz, DeGrasse, Feinman and Clark, JJ.