Defendant and the victim are the biological parents of two children. In February 2010, a temporary order of protection was entered in favor of the victim precluding defendant from having any contact with her. Two months later, and while the order of protection remained in effect, defendant arrived at the home of
As a result of this incident, defendant ultimately was indicted and charged in a second superseding indictment with criminal contempt in the first degree (count 1) and endangering the welfare of a child (counts 2 and 3). At the close of the People’s proof, County Court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss the second and third counts of the indictment, and the jury thereafter convicted defendant of the sole remaining charge of criminal contempt in the first degree. County Court subsequently sentenced defendant to a prison term of 1 to 3 years, prompting this appeal.
We affirm. As defendant did not move to dismiss the indictment due to the asserted lack of required signatures, this issue is unpreserved and is “ ‘reviewable as of right only if the missing signature renders the indictment jurisdictionally defective’ ” (People v Brown,
Defendant’s remaining challenge to the indictment is equally lacking in merit. “[W]here an indictment count incorporates by reference the statutory provision applicable to the crime intended to be charged, it has been repeatedly held that this is sufficient to apprise the defendant of the charge and, therefore, renders the count jurisdictionally valid” (People v Brown,
Nor are we persuaded that defendant effectively was denied the right to be present at side bar conferences due to County Court’s requirement that he be accompanied by a court officer. Although a criminal defendant indeed has a statutory right to be present for such conferences (see CPL 260.20; People v Vargas,
As for defendant’s challenge to the verdict itself, we are satisfied that the verdict is not against the weight of the evidence.
With respect to defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim, which is premised upon counsel’s asserted failure to move to dismiss the indictment upon speedy trial grounds, we are unable to evaluate the merits of defendant’s claim as it involves matters outside the record and, as such, is more appropriately addressed in the context of a CPL article 440 motion (see People v Peque,
Rose, J.P., Spain, Malone Jr. and Kavanagh, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
Notes
. Although the victim did not live with her parents at this time, she and the children were at her parents’ residence on the evening in question.
. Defendant’s challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence is not preserved for our review, but “our weight of the evidence review necessarily involves an evaluation of whether all elements of the charged crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial” (People v Thompson,
. The record contains conflicting proof as to whether defendant was served with the order of protection in open court or at some point thereafter. This issue need not detain us, however, because the order of protection is signed by defendant, thus acknowledging defendant’s receipt thereof and
