DECISION WHETHER TO ADMIT OR DENY ALLEGATIONS IN A PREDICATE FELONY STATEMENT IS RESERVED TO DEFENDANT PERSONALLY, NOT DEFENSE COUNSEL (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department noted that the decision whether to admit or deny the allegations in a predicate felony statement is reserved to the defendant personally, not defense counsel:

… [W]hether to admit or controvert the allegations in a predicate felony statement is a “fundamental” decision “comparable to how to plead and whether to waive a jury, take the stand or appeal,” and it is “therefore reserved to the accused” personally … . Thus, the court did not violate defendant’s right to counsel by accepting his personal decision to controvert the allegations in the People’s predicate felony statement notwithstanding defense counsel’s contrary views and advice … . Defendant’s related assertion that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to adequately apprise him of the ramifications of contesting the predicate felony statement is belied by the record … . People v Favors, 2020 NY Slip Op 00968, Fourth Dept 2-7-20