People v. Elias

• Decision Date: 08 April 1996
• Citation: 226 A.D.2d 474,640 N.Y.S.2d 799
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Abel ELIAS, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 799

640 N.Y.S.2d 799

226 A.D.2d 474

The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Abel ELIAS, Appellant.

Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division Second Department.

April 8, 1996.

Daniel L. Greenberg, New York City (David Crow, of counsel), for appellant.

Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens (Steven J. Chananie, John Castellano, and Eric C. Rosenbaum, of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Golia, J.), rendered April 28, 1994, convicting him of murder in the second degree (two counts), upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant's claims of error regarding the trial court's interested-witness charge and the portion of the charge regarding evidence of flight are not preserved for appellate review, since he neither objected to the charge as given nor requested curative instructions (see, People v. Gray, 86 N.Y.2d 10, 19, 629 N.Y.S.2d 173, 652 N.E.2d 919; People v. Nuccie, 57 N.Y.2d 818, 455 N.Y.S.2d 593, 441 N.E.2d 1111; People v. Baez, 208 A.D.2d 551, 616 N.Y.S.2d 999; People v. Wilson, 154 A.D.2d 566, 546 N.Y.S.2d 170). In any event, the court appropriately instructed the jury on the weight to be given to the evidence of flight. The trial court's charge that, as a matter of law, the police officers were not interested witnesses was also not erroneous (see, People v. Holly, 184 A.D.2d 581, 586 N.Y.S.2d 760; People v. Melvin, 128 A.D.2d 647, 512 N.Y.S.2d 891; People v. Holmes, 117 A.D.2d 480, 504 N.Y.S.2d 245).

The sentence was not excessive (see, People v. Delgado, 80 N.Y.2d 780, 587 N.Y.S.2d 271, 599 N.E.2d 675; People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, ...