The People of the State of New York, Respondent v. Carlos Caban, Appellant

Summary

The Court of Appeals affirmed defendant's conviction of conspiracy in the second degree for orchestrating the murder of rival drug dealer Angel Ortiz. It held that the March 18 declarations of Garcia and Torres were nonhearsay when offered to prove the agreement underlying the conspiracy charge, that Torres's June 1 'It's time' statement was admissible because the People established a prima facie case of conspiracy independent of the hearsay, and that conditionally admitting coconspirator statements 'subject to connection' was within the trial court's discretion. Counsel's failures to request an accomplice-as-a-matter-of-law charge as to witness Castro or to seek dismissal for lack of corroboration did not deny meaningful representation, and because the state standard offers greater protection than Strickland, rejecting the state claim necessarily rejected the federal one; the prosecutorial misconduct claim was also rejected. No separate opinions were filed.