[Download] "People State New York v. Betty Jane Close" by Supreme Court of New York " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: People State New York v. Betty Jane Close
- Author : Supreme Court of New York
- Release Date : January 26, 1984
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 65 KB
Description
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Fulton County (Albanese, J.), rendered May 22, 1980, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crime of murder in the second degree. para. Defendant and her husband, Benedict J. Close, Jr., were indicted for the murder of Mr. Closes first wife, Ethel Close. After a joint trial before a jury, defendant and Mr. Close were found guilty of murder in the second degree for intentionally killing Ethel, and they were each sentenced to a term of incarceration of 21 years to life. This court has previously affirmed Mr. Closes conviction (People v Close, 90 A.D.2d 562) and the underlying facts can be found in this previous decision (id.). On this appeal, defendant raises several grounds for reversal and carefully discusses the reasons why her case supports reversal despite the affirmance of her husbands conviction. Although defendants position is well presented, our review of the voluminous record and applicable law convinces us that affirmance is warranted. para. We first reject defendants claim that defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel by County Courts failure to order separate representation for defendant and Mr. Close or, at least, to conduct a hearing to determine defendants capacity to waive her rights in this regard. The record reveals that County Court more than once alerted defendant to the possibility of a conflict arising from the joint representation and to [103 A.D.2d 970 Page 971]