People v. Booker

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the denial without a hearing of Walter Booker's CPL 440.10 motion to vacate his convictions. The court held that his allegations concerning improper contact between a grand jury witness and a grand juror were unsupported, and that counsel's decisions regarding investigation and cross-examination constituted valid trial strategy rather than ineffective assistance.

Holdings

1. The County Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in denying the CPL 440.10 motion without a hearing because Booker's allegations concerning improper contact between the grand jury witness and a grand juror were based solely on his affidavit, unsupported by other evidence, and presented no reasonable possibility of being true under the circumstances.
2. Counsel's decision not to cross-examine the grand jury witness about the alleged contact with a grand juror or the witness's employment disciplinary record appeared to be a valid trial tactic and did not establish ineffective assistance.
3. Because New York's meaningful-representation standard provides greater protection than the federal test, the court rejected Booker's federal constitutional challenge.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the County Court properly denied Booker's CPL 440.10 motion without a hearing when the factual allegations concerning improper contact between a grand jury witness and a grand juror were based solely on his affidavit and unsupported by other evidence.
2. Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate or litigate the alleged grand-juror contact and for declining to cross-examine the grand jury witness about that matter or the witness's employment disciplinary record.
3. Whether counsel's representation satisfied New York's meaningful-representation standard and the federal constitutional standard.

Disposition

affirmed