THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK RESPONDENT v. JUNIOR BANAH DEFENDANT APPELLANT (2011)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.

Memorandum:  Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon a jury verdict of robbery in the second degree (Penal Law § 160.10[2][b] ).  Contrary to defendant's contention, County Court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's request for substitution of counsel without making a further inquiry.   It is apparent from the record that defendant disagreed with defense counsel's advice that he accept a favorable plea offer, and thus we conclude that the court properly determined that defendant's request for new counsel was not based upon “good cause” (People v. Linares, 2 NY3d 507, 510;  cf.  People v. Sides, 75 N.Y.2d 822, 824-825).

Defendant failed to preserve for our review his further contention that the court erred in permitting a police officer to testify with respect to the victim's showup identification of defendant (see People v. Jordan, 261 A.D.2d 947, lv denied 93 N.Y.2d 1003;  see generally People v. Love, 57 N.Y.2d 1023, 1025).   In any event, any such error is harmless in light of the overwhelming proof of defendant's guilt, i.e., “strong and unequivocal identification testimony” of the victim (People v. Cruz, 214 A.D.2d 952, 953, lv denied 86 N.Y.2d 793), and the physical evidence recovered in proximity to the location where defendant was stopped by police, and there is no significant probability that defendant would have been acquitted but for the error (see generally People v. Crimmins, 36 N.Y.2d 230, 241-242).

Patricia L. Morgan

Clerk of the Court