DEFENDANT DID NOT RECEIVE EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AT SENTENCING; DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE CASE OR THE DEFENDANT’S BACKGROUND (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing the conviction, determined defendant did not receive effective assistance of counsel at sentencing. Counsel was not familiar with the case of the defendant’s background:
… [T]he defendant was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel at sentencing. A defendant is ” entitled to an opportunity to be represented by counsel sufficiently familiar with the case and the defendant’s background to make an effective presentation on the question of sentence'” … . Here, the defendant’s counsel at sentencing made no substantive arguments on the defendant’s behalf, and the record demonstrates that counsel had no meaningful knowledge of the case or of the defendant’s background. People v Jones, 2020 NY Slip Op 01640, Second Dept 3-11-20
