People v. Chuang

• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Writing for the Court: MAZZARELLI
• Citation: People v. Chuang, 96 A.D.3d 590, 947 N.Y.S.2d 37, 2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 5068 (N.Y. App. Div. 2012)
• Decision Date: 21 June 2012
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. SUWEI CHUANG, Defendant–Appellant.

96 A.D.3d 590

947 N.Y.S.2d 37

2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 05068

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.SUWEI CHUANG, Defendant–Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

June 21, 2012.

White & White, New York (Diarmuid White of counsel), and Michael C. Marcus, New York, for appellant.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (David M. Cohn of counsel), for respondent.

MAZZARELLI, J.P., FRIEDMAN, CATTERSON, RENWICK, FREEDMAN, JJ.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Edward J. McLaughlin, J.), rendered February 24, 2009, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and 26 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to an aggregate term of 18 1/2 to 22 years, modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, to the extent of directing that all sentences be served concurrently, resulting in a new aggregate term of 15 years, and otherwise affirmed.

Defendant was convicted of possessing a loaded Bushmaster AR–15 assault rifle, a weapon so deadly that the .223 caliber bullets it is capable of firing would penetrate the vests worn by New York City police officers. He was also convicted of possessing 22 high-capacity magazines, each of which held 30 rounds of such ammunition. In addition to the rifle and the ammunition feeders for it, defendant was convicted of possessing a Glock 9mm automatic pistol and a knife.

The evidence at trial established that defendant kept the AR–15 assault rifle in a black bag and that when he went out of his apartment, he often brought the rifle with him, keeping it in the black bag and placing it on the floor of his car, between the front and back seats. Defendant also usually carried the Glock pistol, which he concealed in his waistband, along with two extra magazines. One of defendant's friends testified that he once saw defendant with the pistol in Penn Station. Defendant also carried a knife in his pocket.

The main witness at trial was defendant's girlfriend. She testified that, on one occasion, she found defendant in the living room of the apartment they lived in holding her sister's dog, which was not moving. When she said she wanted to take the dog to a veterinarian, defendant pointed the loaded AR–15 rifle at her, and threatened to shoot her and the dog. After a struggle over the gun, defendant calmed down. When the girlfriend went to call a veterinarian, defendant opened the freezer, removed the frozen body of the girlfriend's own dog, slammed it on the counter, and told her to take it to the veterinarian for an autopsy. When the girlfriend tried to leave the apartment, defendant pointed the rifle at her and said that he would shoot her if she left.

On another occasion, defendant met his girlfriend, who was pregnant, at 34th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. When the girlfriend told defendant that she was going to look at an apartment because she did not want her child to live in a home with weapons, defendant yelled at her. She walked away, and defendant positioned himself in front of her, screaming and insisting that she give him her set of keys to his apartment. Furious, defendant said he was going to “shoot” or “kill” her, and that he did not care that they were in a public place. When the girlfriend refused to give him the keys, defendant put his hand on his hip, as if he were about to draw a gun. The girlfriend knew he had a gun there because she had felt it earlier when they hugged. She then gave defendant the keys, and stayed elsewhere that night.

The girlfriend further testified that she had an abortion because defendant refused to get rid of the guns. On the day of the procedure, she told defendant she was not coming back to live with him, and he told her that she would “pay for that.” They met for dinner that evening in Manhattan, and after dinner, the girlfriend went back to defendant's apartment, and they reconciled. But when she told defendant about the abortion, he grabbed a rifle and threatened to kill her. She begged him to put the gun down, and he eventually calmed down. Shortly thereafter, the couple spent Thanksgiving weekend in Vermont with the girlfriend's sister and her sister's boyfriend. Defendant brought the Glock and the assault rifle to Vermont.

Later that fall, defendant and his girlfriend attended couples counseling. At one of the sessions, defendant arrived carrying a handgun in his waistband and the rifle in a tennis bag. When the subject of defendant's threats to kill his girlfriend arose, defendant reached into his coat, pulled out the handgun, and placed it within his grasp. The therapist saw what looked like an ammunition clip on the table between the couch and the chair. At trial, the therapist testified that the Glock recovered from defendant's apartment “resembled” the black handgun that defendant displayed at the therapy session.

A few weeks later, defendant's girlfriend's sister came to stay with them after she had an argument with her boyfriend. At around 3:00 a.m., defendant drove the sister to her boyfriend's apartment so that she could retrieve her belongings. Defendant brought the Glock pistol and the rifle. Defendant and the boyfriend argued outside the building. The boyfriend's brother was also present. The boyfriend frisked defendant for weapons and would not allow him to come upstairs. When defendant told his girlfriend that he was going to pull out his gun and shoot the sister's boyfriend, she intervened and stood between them. Defendant got in his car and said he was leaving alone. When his girlfriend and her sister came back from collecting the sister's belongings, defendant returned and was holding the Glock. The rifle was next to his car. Defendant picked up the rifle and gave it to his girlfriend. She put the rifle down and asked defendant to get rid of it. The sister also asked defendant to put the Glock away, and defendant told her to “shut up.” During the drive back, defendant mentioned he had almost shot the boyfriend's brother, and when they got home, defendant started loading his weapons, concerned that the boyfriend would call the police. Subsequently, defendant sent one of his friends an instant message stating that he had almost shot the boyfriend, and that he carried his assault rifle “locked and loaded.” Defendant added that his girlfriend “saved” him by throwing herself in front of him. Otherwise, he stated, they “would have found out what a frangible does to a human body.” ¹ The boyfriend later denied that defendant had threatened to shoot him.

On New Year's Eve, defendant's girlfriend returned to their apartment after a fight. She heard a noise that sounded like a weapon being fired, and a few minutes later, defendant entered the apartment carrying the assault rifle. Defendant asked if she had heard the noise made by the rifle being fired. When she responded that it was “really loud,” defendant said that he would never shoot it downstairs again. The following day, defendant told his girlfriend that he was going to shoot her sister for bringing her boyfriend into their lives.

The day after New Year's Day, defendant's girlfriend met with the Assistant District Attorney who was handling an unrelated case in which she was a cooperating witness. She later met with several detectives and told them that defendant had an AR–15 assault rifle and a handgun, and that he frequently carried the guns on his person or in his car. She added that defendant pointed the handgun at her frequently, had pointed a gun at her head on one occasion and threatened to kill her, and had threatened to kill her sister and her sister's boyfriend.

The detectives formulated a plan to apprehend defendant. At their suggestion, the girlfriend called defendant and said that she was sick and receiving treatment at the New York Downtown Hospital. She asked defendant to pick her up. She went to the location with detectives and a team of police officers. Defendant arrived in a car and when he exited it he was apprehended by the police. One of the detectives entered the passenger side of defendant's car after obtaining the keys, and saw, in plain view, what appeared to be a rifle and scope, sticking out of a black bag located between the front and back seats. He also saw two large backpacks, one of which appeared to contain magazines with ammunition. Another detective saw a backpack in the back seat. At the precinct, the police searched defendant and recovered from his pocket three rounds of .22 caliber ammunition and a switchblade knife. That night, warrants were obtained to search defendant's vehicle and his apartment. Officers searched defendant's apartment and recovered a loaded, operable Glock pistol with a high-capacity magazine, as well as gun parts, including parts for an AR–15 rifle, a .22 caliber conversion kit for the Glock, an extra gun barrel, an “extremely large amount of ammunition,” magazine holders, and knife cases. In addition, they found targets with bull's-eyes, a bulletproof vest, and two bullet-resistant Kevlar helmets. In defendant's vehicle detectives found an operable Bushmaster AR–15 assault rifle in a black bag on the floor behind the passenger seat with a fully-loaded .223 caliber magazine, and a round in the chamber. They also found two green backpacks in the back seat containing, among other things, 26 fully-loaded 30–round magazines with .223 caliber ammunition (780 rounds total), a .22 caliber conversion kit, another bulletproof vest, two .45 caliber magazines, one .22 caliber magazine, fifty-seven .45 caliber rounds, and seven .22 caliber rounds.

On the conviction for criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, defendant was sentenced, as a second felony offender, to a determinate term of 15 years for possession of the loaded assault rifle. On the conviction for criminal possession of a weapon in the...