| People v Pearsall |
| 2019 NY Slip Op 02904 [171 AD3d 1096] |
| April 17, 2019 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Diya J. Pearsall, Appellant. |
Leon H. Tracy, Jericho, NY, for appellant.
Madeline Singas, District Attorney, Mineola, NY (Kevin C. King and James C. Manning ofcounsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Robert A.McDonald, J.), rendered March 8, 2017, convicting him of burglary in the second degree, upon ajury verdict, and imposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant's contention that his conviction is not supported by legally sufficient evidenceis unpreserved for appellate review, as his motion to dismiss made at the close of evidence wasnot sufficiently specific (see CPL 470.05 [2]; People v Hawkins, 11 NY3d 484, 492 [2008]; People vGray, 86 NY2d 10, 19 [1995]). In any event, viewing the evidence in the light most favorableto the prosecution (see People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620, 621 [1983]), we find that it waslegally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, infulfilling our responsibility to conduct an independent review of the weight of the evidence(see CPL 470.15 [5]; People vDanielson, 9 NY3d 342 [2007]), we nevertheless accord great deference to the jury'sopportunity to view the witnesses, hear the testimony, and observe demeanor (see People vMateo, 2 NY3d 383, 410 [2004]). Upon reviewing the record here, we are satisfied that theverdict of guilt was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v Romero, 7 NY3d 633 [2006]).
Contrary to the defendant's contention, his trial counsel's failure to preserve for appellatereview his challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence did not constitute ineffectiveassistance of counsel (see People vMcGee, 20 NY3d 513, 518 [2013]; People v Foster, 153 AD3d 853, 855 [2017]). In addition, counsel'sfailure to seek an adverse inference charge did not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel(see Strickland v Washington, 466 US 668 [1984]; People v Baldi, 54 NY2d 137,147 [1981]). Leventhal, J.P., Roman, Connolly and Brathwaite Nelson, JJ., concur.