The People v. Anthony Debellis

Summary

The Court of Appeals held that defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to request a jury instruction on the statutory voluntary-surrender defense, which was the only defense supported by the defendant's testimony, while pursuing an inapplicable temporary-and-lawful-possession defense. Because that error deprived the defendant of a fair trial under New York's meaningful-representation standard, the court reversed the Appellate Division's order and ordered a new trial. No separate opinion is included in the record provided.