Santiago v. Annucci et al

Filing 25

OPINION: Before this court is a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 brought by petitioner Cheryl Santiago, whose conviction for second degree murder in Dutchess County Court was affirmed on direct appeal by the Appe llate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 949 N.Y.S.2d 78 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep't 2012), and the Court of Appeals of New York, 9 N.E.3d 870 (N.Y. 2014). ECF No. 2. Santiago alleges that her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance a nd deprived her of her Sixth Amendment rights because counsel failed to (1) object to a Power Point slideshow, (2) seek redaction of letters containing sexually explicit material, and (3) object to certain trial testimony. ECF No. 4, at 3-12. Based o n the reasons explained above, the court denies Santiago's petition as to all three claims. The first two claims are denied based on review of the state court determinations. The third claim is denied based on the court's independent review under Strickland, as required by Teague. Thus Santiago's petition for habeas relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 is denied in its entirety, and the Clerk of Court is requested to close this case. (Signed by Judge Thomas P. Griesa on 10/19/2017) (jwh) (Main Document 25 replaced on 10/19/2017) (jwh). Modified on 10/19/2017 (jwh).