People v. Callegari
| Decision Date | 18 February 1997 |
| Citation | 236 A.D.2d 551,654 N.Y.S.2d 151 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Edward CALLEGARI, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Mahler, Miller, Harris & Engel, P.C., Kew Gardens (Stephen R. Mahler, of counsel), for appellant.
Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens (John M. Castellano, Jeanette Lifschitz, and Johnnette Traill, of counsel), for respondent.
Before ROSENBLATT, J.P., and RITTER, COPERTINO and KRAUSMAN, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Pitaro, J.), rendered May 14, 1996, convicting him of reckless endangerment in the first degree and unlawfully operating or driving a motor vehicle on a public highway, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The evidence demonstrates that the defendant was driving a stolen car during the police chase which led to his conviction for reckless endangerment in the first degree. While the evidence that the car was stolen constituted reference to an uncharged crime, this evidence was properly admitted to show the defendant's motive in fleeing the police, and as background information necessary to explain the officers' presence at the scene and their attempt to pull the defendant's car over (see, People v. Till, 87 N.Y.2d 835, 637 N.Y.S.2d 681, 661 N.E.2d 153; People v. Delgado, 233 A.D.2d 338, 649 N.Y.S.2d 472; People v. Letman, 225 A.D.2d 796, 640 N.Y.S.2d 190 ). While the prosecutor's repeated references to this uncharged crime may not have been necessary, the trial court's limiting instructions dispelled any prejudice to the defendant (see, People v. Williams, 50 N.Y.2d 996, 431 N.Y.S.2d 477, 409 N.E.2d 949; People v. Johnson, 216 A.D.2d 583, 629 N.Y.S.2d 55).
The defendant's remaining contentions are either unpreserved for appellate review or without merit.
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...a motive for the defendant to elude the police (see, People v. Till, 87 N.Y.2d 835, 637 N.Y.S.2d 681, 661 N.E.2d 153; People v. Callegari, 236 A.D.2d 551, 654 N.Y.S.2d 151). The issue of whether the court erred in failing to provide a limiting instruction contemporaneous with the admission ......
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People v. Callegari
...N.Y.S.2d 383 89 N.Y.2d 1090, 682 N.E.2d 984 People v. Edward Callegari Court of Appeals of New York May 29, 1997 Ciparick, J. 236 A.D.2d 551, 654 N.Y.S.2d 151 App.Div. 2, Queens Denied. ...