A defense lawyer “erred” by not making clear to a rape defendant that it was the client’s decision whether or not to testify in his own defense, an upstate appeals court has concluded.

Nevertheless, a unanimous panel of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, ruled that Pierre D. Cosby had not been denied effective assistance of counsel. The court said that he failed to show at his CPL 440.10 hearing that, had he taken the stand at trial, he “would have given relevant testimony.”