People v. Douglass

• Decision Date: 13 March 2014
• Citation: 2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 01638,981 N.Y.S.2d 846,115 A.D.3d 1055
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Thomas W. DOUGLASS IV, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

115 A.D.3d 1055
981 N.Y.S.2d 846
2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 01638

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Thomas W. DOUGLASS IV, Appellant.

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

March 13, 2014.

[981 N.Y.S.2d 847]

The Bellantoni Law Firm, LLP, Scarsdale (Rory J. Bellantoni of counsel), for appellant.

D. Holley Carnright, District Attorney, Kingston (Danielle Rementer of counsel), for respondent.

Before: LAHTINEN, J.P., McCARTHY, GARRY and ROSE, JJ.

ROSE, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Ulster County (Williams, J.), rendered February 10, 2012, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of insurance fraud in the third degree and falsifying business records in the first degree.

Defendant's vehicle, a full-size Toyota pick-up truck, allegedly struck another vehicle from behind while traveling northbound on State Route 9W in Ulster County shortly after midnight. It did not stop, even though the force of the crash caused the other vehicle to flip over onto its roof. The police responded to the accident scene, found a large Toyota emblem broken into two pieces on the road and, with the assistance of the FBI, were able to later match front grill pieces found at the scene of the accident to defendant's vehicle.

Later on in the evening of the same day that the accident occurred, defendant's vehicle was towed from his residence, which was also in Ulster County on State Route 9W approximately two miles north of the

[981 N.Y.S.2d 848]

accident site, with extensive front-end damage. Defendant then filed a report with the State Police indicating that he had hit a deer in Orange County that evening, and he made a claim through his insurance company for the repairs to his vehicle based on the alleged accident with a deer. Defendant's friend, the tow truck operator who towed his vehicle, testified to the grand jury investigating defendant that he had towed the vehicle from the alleged scene of the deer accident in Orange County, rather than from defendant's residence in Ulster County. However, neither the State Police nor the insurance company were able to verify that defendant's vehicle had collided with a deer, and the tow truck operator was later convicted of perjury based on his testimony to the grand jury.¹

Following a jury trial, defendant was acquitted of the charge of leaving the scene of a serious personal injury accident without reporting, but he was found guilty of insurance fraud in the third degree and falsifying business records in the first degree in connection with his fraudulent claim to his insurance company regarding the alleged accident with a deer. County Court sentenced defendant, who was a police officer at the time of the accident, to a prison term of 1 to 3 years for each count, to be served concurrently. He now appeals.

Initially, we are unpersuaded by defendant's contention that the People failed to prove that at least one element of each crime occurred in Ulster County ( seeCPL 20.40[1][a] ). “Venue ... need only be established by a preponderance of the evidence” ( People v. Greenberg, 89 N.Y.2d 553, 555–556, 656 N.Y.S.2d 192, 678 N.E.2d 878 [1997];see People v. Ribowsky, 77 N.Y.2d 284, 291–292, 567 N.Y.S.2d 392, 568 N.E.2d 1197 [1991] ), and it is generally a question to be determined by the trier of fact. Further, we “give deference to every reasonable inference that a jury could draw from the evidence presented” ( People v. Groom, 188 A.D.2d 674, 675, 591 N.Y.S.2d 535 [1992];see People v. Moore, 46 N.Y.2d 1, 6–7, 412 N.Y.S.2d 795, 385 N.E.2d 535 [1978] ). Here, the claims processor from defendant's insurance company testified that he...