People v. Cruz
| Decision Date | 07 November 1996 |
| Citation | 649 N.Y.S.2d 429,233 A.D.2d 102 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Santos CRUZ, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Carolyn Pokorny, for Respondent.
Andrea G. Hirsch, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before MURPHY, P.J., and MILONAS, KUPFERMAN, ROSS and MAZZARELLI, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (David Stadtmauer, J.), rendered May 19, 1994, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 12 1/2 to 25 years, unanimously affirmed.
The record supports the hearing court's finding that defendant's statements were not the product of custodial interrogation.
Defendant's guilt was proven by overwhelming evidence and the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 515 N.Y.S.2d 761, 508 N.E.2d 672). All issues raised by defendant on appeal regarding credibility of the People's main witnesses were placed before the jury for consideration. Their determinations, not unreasonable, will not be disturbed by this Court (People v. Siu Wah Tse, 91 A.D.2d 350, 458 N.Y.S.2d 589, lv. denied 59 N.Y.2d 679, 463 N.Y.S.2d 1039, 450 N.E.2d 263).
The trial court properly denied defendant's request for a jury charge regarding manslaughter in the second degree as a lesser included offense of murder in the second degree (intentional murder), since there is no reasonable view of the evidence, all of which indicated an intentional shooting, that would permit a finding that the shooting was the result of reckless action (see, People v. Scarborough, 49 N.Y.2d 364, 368, 426 N.Y.S.2d 224, 402 N.E.2d 1127).
The trial court properly permitted the prosecutor to pose hypothetical questions to the medical expert which were premised upon the existence of a fact that the evidence fairly tended to support and encompassed a theory of prosecution argued in the opening statement (see, People v. Panarella, 66 A.D.2d 968, 970, 412 N.Y.S.2d 200, affd. 48 N.Y.2d 783, 423 N.Y.S.2d 922, 399 N.E.2d 952, cert. denied 444 U.S. 1079, 100 S.Ct. 1029, 62 L.Ed.2d 762).
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...defendant's experts were properly "premised upon the existence of [facts] that the evidence fairly tended to support" ( People v. Cruz, 233 A.D.2d 102, 649 N.Y.S.2d 429, affd 90 N.Y.2d 961, 665 N.Y.S.2d 46, 687 N.E.2d 1329 ; see Tarlowe v. Metropolitan Ski Slopes, Inc., 28 N.Y.2d 410, 414, ......
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...the hearing court's finding that defendant's statements were not the product of custodial interrogation." People v. Cruz, 233 A.D.2d 102, 102, 649 N.Y.S.2d 429, 430 (1st Dept. 1996). The Court of Appeals affirmed on the ground that the Appellate Division's "ruling constitute[d] a determinat......
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...the defendant's experts were properly "premised upon the existence of [facts] that the evidence fairly tended to support" (People v Cruz, 233 A.D.2d 102, affd 90 N.Y.2d 961; see Tarlowe v Metropolitan Ski Slopes, 28 N.Y.2d 410, 414). Finally, the defendant's contention that the duration of ......
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