of robbery for an armed hold-up of a clerk in a convenience store. On November 14, 1997, Gee and a female accomplice entered the convenience store and, after asking the clerk for cigarettes, Gee brandished a gun case and ordered the clerk to open the cash register. Gee's accomplice then went behind the counter and took the money. Realizing that the robbery was being filmed on the store's surveillance camera, Gee ordered the clerk to show him where the surveillance equipment was located. Gee then unsuccessfully tried to get at the videotape, and the pair fled. Later that night, the police showed the clerk the surveillance videotape, which she authenticated. Petitioner subsequently was apprehended and indicted for first and second degree robbery.
Following a jury trial, Gee was convicted16-2. At the Court's direction, respondent submitted an Answer in opposition to Gee's Supplemental Petition. See Docket No. 20.
Gee's Supplemental Petition raises only claims of ineffectiveness of counsel; he asserts errors on the part of the attorney who represented him during the pre-trial phase of the proceedings; the attorney who represented him at trial; and appellate counsel. For the reasons that follow, I recommend that Gee's request for a writ of habeas corpus be denied and that the Supplemental Petition be dismissed.

II. Factual Background
Amy Butler testified at trial that she was working alone at the Kwik-Fill gas station in Greece, New York, on November 14, 1997, when two people, a black man with a beard and a thin white woman, came in at about 11:20 p.m. The man