PEOPLE v. BURNETT (2012)

Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon his guilty plea of one count of burglary in the first degree (Penal Law § 140.30[2] ) in connection with an incident in which a 64–year–old man was brutally assaulted in his home. We reject defendant's contention that he was deprived of effective assistance of counsel as a result of defense counsel's failure to request a youthful offender adjudication at the time of sentencing. Where, as here, defendant received “an advantageous plea and nothing in the record casts doubt on the apparent effectiveness of counsel” (People v. Ford, 86 N.Y.2d 397, 404), defense counsel's failure to seek youthful offender status does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel (see People v. Hopper, 39 AD3d 1030, 1032; People v.. Gregory, 290 A.D.2d 810, 812, lv denied 98 N.Y.2d 675; see generally People v. Cox, 75 AD3d 1136, 1136, lv denied 15 NY3d 919). Moreover, defendant's sentence is not unduly harsh or severe, and we decline to exercise our power to adjudicate defendant a youthful offender as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice (see People v. Phillips, 289 A.D.2d 1021, 1022; see generally CPL 470.15[6][a] ).

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

MEMORANDUM: