People v. Dillard

• Decision Date: 23 October 2019
• Docket Number: Ind. No. 3492/14,2016–10655
• Citation: 176 A.D.3d 1097,112 N.Y.S.3d 743
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Anthony DILLARD, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

176 A.D.3d 1097
112 N.Y.S.3d 743

The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent,
v.
Anthony DILLARD, Appellant.

2016–10655
Ind. No. 3492/14

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

Argued—April 26, 2019
October 23, 2019

112 N.Y.S.3d 744

Robert D. Siano, White Plains, NY, for appellant.

Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Howard B. Goodman of counsel), for respondent.

WILLIAM F. MASTRO, J.P., ROBERT J. MILLER, BETSY BARROS, LINDA CHRISTOPHER, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

176 A.D.3d 1097

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Alexander Jeong, J.), rendered August 31, 2016, convicting him of murder in the second degree, attempted robbery in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

In April 2013, Christina Johnson, Gileinis Izepia, and Tajaee Spencer were working as prostitutes. All three women had previously worked for the victim, Isidro Walters, who ran a prostitution business out of his apartment. Spencer and Johnson eventually began working for the defendant, who would allow them to use his apartment for a fee. On April 15, 2013, Johnson and Izepia decided they no longer wanted to work for the victim and went to his apartment to gather their belongings. Later that day, they met up with Spencer, the defendant, Andy Borgella (hereinafter the codefendant), and others, at which time the parties formulated a plan to rob the victim. The plan was for the codefendant and another individual, while keeping a phone line open to the other participants, some of whom were in the defendant's car, to pose as customers to gain entry into the victim's apartment, and when the codefendant and the other individual uttered a code word, the other participants would run upstairs and rob the apartment. The defendant drove some of the participants, including Spencer, Izepia, Johnson, and the codefendant, to the victim's apartment. While the two men were inside the apartment, the victim was shot and killed. Thereafter, the defendant drove Spencer, Izepia, Johnson, and the codefendant to his home.

The defendant, the codefendant, and Spencer were charged by joint indictment with murder in the second degree (felony murder), attempted robbery in the first degree, attempted robbery in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (two counts). Spencer, Johnson and Izepia, who were charged separately, pleaded guilty and entered into cooperation agreements with the prosecution. Following a jury trial, the defendant and the codefendant were found guilty of murder in the second degree, attempted robbery in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. The defendant was sentenced on August 31, 2016, and appeals from the judgment of conviction.

176 A.D.3d 1098

The defendant's contention that his convictions of murder in the second degree, attempted robbery in the first degree,

112 N.Y.S.3d 745

and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree were not supported by legally sufficient evidence is unpreserved for appellate review (see People v. Hawkins, 11 N.Y.3d 484, 492, 872 N.Y.S.2d 395, 900 N.E.2d 946 ; People v. Easley, 171 A.D.3d 785, 785, 96 N.Y.S.3d 320 ). In any event, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution (see People v. Danielson, 9 N.Y.3d 342, 349, 849 N.Y.S.2d 480, 880 N.E.2d 1 ), we find that it was legally sufficient to establish that the...