People v. Jackson

In People v. Jackson, 74 A.D.2d 585 (2d Dept. 1980), trial counsel planned to present an alibi defense. Her witnesses, however were vulnerable to impeachment because of a close family relationship, and/or because of an "unsavory background." Instead, the trial attorney in Jackson chose to attack the identification made by prosecution witnesses. In Jackson, the Second Department found that counsel's failure to call alibi witnesses to be a product of calculated trial strategy. (Jackson, supra at 587.)