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Alleged Fourth Amendment Error Rejected -- Defendant was convicted of three counts of robbery. Following affirmation of his conviction by the Second Circuit, defendant filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging various instances ineffective assistance of counsel.

Following a brief investigation of a robbery, police identified the defendant as a suspect and went to his home. An officer pressed the doorbell on defendant's home, and defendant opened the door in response. The police informed defendant that he was under arrest, searched him, and seized a cellphone he was carrying. The phone and its contents were introduced at trial; defendant alleged on appeal that his representation was flawed because his attorney did not file a suppression motion. The Court noted that a threshold is a "public place," and a warrantless search is permitted pursuant to an arrest in a public place. As a result, it was highly unlikely, given the law, that the motion to suppress would have succeeded, and thus the attorney's conduct was not unreasonable. In addition, the Court noted that the phone and its contents were essentially irrelevant to the trial, given the scope of the other evidence introduced by the government. Defendant's argument based on the alleged Fourth Amendment omission was rejected, as were the rest of his assertions. The petition for post-conviction relief was denied.<