People v. Alexander
| Decision Date | 07 June 1991 |
| Citation | 572 N.Y.S.2d 817,174 A.D.2d 996 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Vincent ALEXANDER, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Edward J. Nowak, by James Eckert, Rochester, for appellant.
Howard R. Relin by Robert Mastrocola, Rochester, for respondent.
Before CALLAHAN, J.P., and DENMAN, BALIO, LAWTON and LOWERY, JJ.
Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree for the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend. There is no merit to his contention that the People failed to present legally sufficient evidence of an intent to kill. Such intent may be inferred from all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident, including the conduct of the accused in inflicting the fatal wounds (see, People v. Jackson, 18 N.Y.2d 516, 520, 277 N.Y.S.2d 263, 223 N.E.2d 790; People v. Horton, 18 N.Y.2d 355, 359, 275 N.Y.S.2d 377, 221 N.E.2d 909, cert. denied 387 U.S. 934, 87 S.Ct. 2059, 18 L.Ed.2d 997; People v. Milea, 112 A.D.2d 1011, 1013, 492 N.Y.S.2d 650, lv. denied 66 N.Y.2d 921, 498 N.Y.S.2d 1036, 489 N.E.2d 781). Evidence that defendant threatened to kill the victim; that he grabbed a knife from her and stabbed her 15 times in the chest, abdomen and back; and that he fled from the scene with the knife in his hand was legally sufficient to support a finding that defendant acted intentionally.
The jury's rejection of the affirmative defense of extreme emotional disturbance was not contrary to the weight of evidence. Given the numerous conflicts between the testimony of an eyewitness and that of defendant, the jury's rejection of defendant's version of the events was not unreasonable. Additionally, defendant failed to establish a reasonable explanation for his claimed emotional disturbance (see, People v. Casassa, 49 N.Y.2d 668, 678, 427 N.Y.S.2d 769, 404 N.E.2d 1310, cert. denied 449 U.S. 842, 101 S.Ct. 122, 66 L.Ed.2d 50; People v. Glaser, 168 A.D.2d 941, 564 N.Y.S.2d 893).
The court did not abuse its discretion in permitting defendant to be cross-examined regarding an alleged assault upon the victim two months prior to the homicide (see, People v. Wright, 167 A.D.2d 959, 562 N.Y.S.2d 301 lv. denied 77 N.Y.2d 845, 567 N.Y.S.2d 214, 568 N.E.2d 663; People v. Castrechino, 134 A.D.2d 877, 521 N.Y.S.2d 960, lv. denied 70 N.Y.2d 1005, 526 N.Y.S.2d 939, 521 N.E.2d 1082). Defendant failed to preserve the issue that his absence from the Sandoval hearing denied him the right to be present at a critical stage of the...
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