People v. Fenner

Citation61 N.Y.2d 971,475 N.Y.S.2d 276,463 N.E.2d 617
Parties, 463 N.E.2d 617 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Andre FENNER, Appellant.
Decision Date22 March 1984
CourtNew York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
[463 N.E.2d 618] Allen E. Burns and William E. Hellerstein, New York City, for appellant.
OPINION OF THE COURT MEMORANDUM.

The order of the Appellate Division, 91 A.D.2d 667, 457 N.Y.S.2d 426, should be affirmed.

The number of shots fired, the number of persons fired at and the fact that they were running toward the door of the poolroom in an effort to get away from defendant, though not as egregious circumstances as those involved in People v. Register, 60 N.Y.2d 270, 469 N.Y.S.2d 599, 457 N.E.2d 704, were sufficient to present a question for the jury concerning whether defendant evinced "a depraved indifference to human life" (Penal Law, § 125.25, subd. 2). Moreover, the jury was charged that depraved indifference to human life required that they find defendant's "conduct, beyond being reckless * * * so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so devoid of regard of the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes the death of another." The evidence being sufficient and the charge proper, the conviction on this count must stand.

The argument that defendant's statements should have been suppressed because the reliability of the information obtained from a citizen informant had not been established by calling Officer Gatti, who received the information and passed it on to the arresting officer, has not been preserved for our review. Reliability was not put in issue either in defendant's motion papers or during the hearing, the peripheral reference during argument at the end of the hearing to the absence of Officer Gatti as a witness being insufficient (People v. Weston, 56 N.Y.2d 844, 453 N.Y.S.2d 167, 438 N.E.2d 873; People v. Jenkins, 47 N.Y.2d 722, 417 N.Y.S.2d 57, 390 N.E.2d 775).

We have considered the other issues argued by defendant and find them to be either without merit or not sufficiently preserved.

COOKE, C.J., and JASEN, JONES, WACHTLER, MEYER, SIMONS and KAYE, JJ., concur.

Order affirmed in a memorandum.

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  • Petronio v. Walsh
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
    • September 14, 2010
    ...N.E.2d 721 (quoting People v. Russell, 91 N.Y.2d 280, 287-88, 670 N.Y.S.2d 166, 693 N.E.2d 193 (1998); People v. Fenner, 61 N.Y.2d 971, 973, 475 N.Y.S.2d 276, 463 N.E.2d 617 (1984)). In this limited class of cases, Courts have upheld depraved indifference murder convictions "when a defendan......
  • Rivera v. Cuomo
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
    • August 9, 2011
    ...liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes the death of another. People v. Fenner, 61 N.Y.2d 971, 973, 475 N.Y.S.2d 276, 463 N.E.2d 617 (1984); accord Gonzalez, 1 N.Y.3d at 467, 775 N.Y.S.2d 224, 807 N.E.2d 273. The New York Court of Appeals further reinf......
  • Walker v. Graham
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
    • July 2, 2013
    ...mind regardless of human life and which amply supplied the evidence of malice and felonious intent”); People v. Fenner, 61 N.Y.2d 971, 475 N.Y.S.2d 276, 463 N.E.2d 617 (1984) (defendant fired into a fleeing crowd); People v. Russell, 91 N.Y.2d 280, 670 N.Y.S.2d 166, 693 N.E.2d 193 (1988) (d......
  • Rustici v. Philips
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
    • August 3, 2007
    ...312 (2002), overruled by People v. Feingold, 7 N.Y.3d 288, 852 N.E.2d 1163, 819 N.Y.S.2d 691 (2006); People v. Fenner, 61 N.Y.2d 971, 973, 463 N.E.2d 617, 475 N.Y.S.2d 276 (1984); People v. Register, 60 N.Y.2d 270, 278, 457 N.E.2d 704, 469 N.Y.S.2d 599 (1983), overruled by People v. Feingol......
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