| People v St. John |
| 2005 NY Slip Op 08353 [23 AD3d 417] |
| November 7, 2005 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Elvis St. John, Appellant. |
—[*1]Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Collini, J.), rendered October 29, 2002, convicting him of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree (three counts), upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
In order for a defendant to establish ineffective assistance of trial counsel, he or she must demonstrate the absence of strategic or other legitimate explanations for counsel's allegedly deficient conduct (People v Taylor, 1 NY3d 174 [2003]; People v Benevento, 91 NY2d 708 [1998]; People v Rivera, 71 NY2d 705 [1988]). The defendant failed to make such a showing.
The sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v Suitte, 90 AD2d 80, 83 [1982]). H. Miller, J.P., Santucci, Goldstein and Dillon, JJ., concur.