People v. Hajratalli

• Decision Date: 16 December 2021
• Docket Number: 112398
• Citation: 200 A.D.3d 1332,158 N.Y.S.3d 405
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Ramiz T. HAJRATALLI, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

200 A.D.3d 1332

158 N.Y.S.3d 405

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Ramiz T. HAJRATALLI, Appellant.

112398

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

Calendar Date: October 13, 2021

Decided and Entered: December 16, 2021

Luibrand Law Firm, PLLC, Latham (Kevin A. Luibrand of counsel), for appellant.

G. Scott Walling, Special Prosecutor, Slingerlands, for respondent.

Before: Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch, Clark, Pritzker and Colangelo, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Lynch, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Saratoga County (Murphy III, J.), rendered May 25, 2018, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of burglary in the second degree (two counts) and criminal mischief in the fourth degree (two counts).

Defendant was charged by indictment with burglary in the second degree (two counts) and criminal mischief in the fourth degree (two counts) in connection with two home invasions in the City of Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County, that occurred in July and August 2017.¹ County Court denied defendant's pretrial motion to sever the counts related to each incident and a jury trial thereafter ensued. Defendant was ultimately convicted as charged and sentenced to consecutive prison terms of 15 years, with five years of postrelease supervision, on each burglary conviction and to lesser concurrent prison terms on the criminal mischief convictions. Defendant appeals.

Defendant contends that the verdict related to the July 2017 home invasion is legally insufficient and against the weight of the evidence because the People did not establish his identity as the perpetrator. Defendant's legal sufficiency argument is unpreserved, as his motion for a trial order of dismissal at the close of the People's proof focused solely on the mens rea component of burglary and not on the issue of identity (see People v. White–Span, 182 A.D.3d 909, 910, 122 N.Y.S.3d 818 [2020], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 1071, 129 N.Y.S.3d 381, 152 N.E.3d 1183 [2020] ; People v. Sutton, 174 A.D.3d 1052, 1052, 103 N.Y.S.3d 698 [2019], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 954, 110 N.Y.S.3d 633, 134 N.E.3d 632 [2019] ). "Nevertheless, in reviewing whether the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, this Court necessarily must ensure that the People proved each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In conducting such a review, where an acquittal would not have been unreasonable, we view the evidence in a neutral light and, while giving deference to the jury's credibility determinations, weigh the relative probative force of conflicting testimony and the relative strength of conflicting inferences that may be drawn from the testimony" ( People v. White–Span, 182 A.D.3d at 910, 122 N.Y.S.3d 818 [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]; see People v. Sindoni, 178 A.D.3d 1128, 1131, 115 N.Y.S.3d 161 [2019] ). As relevant here, "[a] person is guilty of burglary in the second degree when he [or she] knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein, and when ... [t]he building is a dwelling" ( Penal Law § 140.25[2] ). "A person is guilty of criminal mischief in the fourth degree when, having no right to do so nor any reasonable ground to believe that he or she has such right, he or she ... [i]ntentionally damages property of another person" ( Penal Law § 145.00[1] ).

As to the first home invasion, the People elicited testimony that, on the evening of July 29, 2017, a female resident of Saratoga Springs (hereinafter victim No. 1) went to a bar on Caroline Street with her roommate and her roommate's boyfriend. Victim No. 1 consumed seven alcoholic beverages and left the bar around 12:45 a.m. Upon returning to her Caroline Street apartment, victim No. 1 had a conversation with her roommate and went to sleep. She confirmed that, before getting into bed, she locked both the front door to the apartment and her bedroom door. Sometime later, she awoke to the click of her light switch and her overhead light coming on. She then saw a man standing in the doorway of her bedroom, explaining that the light caused the man to have a "white aura" that obscured his features. However, she was able to see that he had a larger build and dark hair that was "longer at the top" and not a "buzz cut." Because she was aware that her roommate's boyfriend was sleeping over that night, victim No. 1 assumed that the individual standing in her doorway was the boyfriend. She yelled for him to "[g]et the f[* * *] out" and the individual turned the light off and left. Victim No. 1 then went back to sleep and, when she awoke around 7:00 a.m., she noticed that the inside doorknob to her bedroom door "was on [the] floor and the screw was right next to it." Victim No. 1 texted her roommate about whether the boyfriend had entered her room that evening and the roommate confirmed that he had not.² Victim No. 1 testified that, as she was walking in an alley next to her residence the next day, she noticed the outside doorknob to her bedroom in her neighbor's bushes. Victim No. 1 then contacted her landlord, who met her at the apartment and noticed pry marks on the front door frame, as well as "paint chips" and "wood chips" on the floor outside of her bedroom. When victim No. 1 reported the incident to police, she gave them a statement describing the individual whom she saw standing in her doorway as a white male.³

John Guzek, an investigator with the City of Saratoga Springs Police Department, proceeded to victim No. 1's apartment after the incident and observed pry marks on her front door, "just below the ... handle." As to the physical evidence pertaining to victim No. 1's bedroom, Guzek noticed "quite a few paint chips on the floor," the "door jamb had approximately five inches of paint rubbed off," and both door handles were missing and two mounting screws were gone. Police located a partial fingerprint on the outer doorknob that victim No. 1 found in the neighbor's bushes, but were unable to identify any matches at that time.

As to the August 2017 home invasion, the People elicited testimony from a male resident of Saratoga Springs (hereinafter victim No. 2), who explained that defendant entered his residence without authorization on the evening of August 11, 2017. In particular, victim No. 2 testified that he went to bed around 10:30 p.m. after locking his back door. He was awakened after midnight and observed an individual standing in the bedroom doorway holding a lit cigarette lighter and looking into the bedroom, identifying this individual at trial as defendant. Victim No. 2 testified that he asked defendant who he was but defendant turned away and ran, prompting victim No. 2 to grab his pistol and chase defendant. Defendant eventually stopped running and, according to victim No. 2, stated that he was a friend of victim No. 2's wife, whom he referred to as "Kathryn." Victim No. 2 testified that he became immediately suspicious because his wife, who goes by the name "Kathy," does not use the name "Kathryn."⁴ Victim No. 2 then pushed defendant to the ground and knelt on his hands until police officers arrived. Upon defendant's arrest, he was found in possession of a cigarette lighter, a pack of cigarettes and lotion.

Victim No. 2's daughter, who was not home that evening, testified that she walked to and from a local bar on August 4, 2017 and again walked to a local bar on August 5, while getting a ride home on that date. Both times, she used a combination box to access a key to the back door of the house and explained that she always left the combination set to open. Her walking route to the bars apparently took her by defendant's apartment.

Following defendant's arrest, defendant's fingerprints were taken and three fingerprint examiners with the Division of Criminal Justice Services compared them to the partial fingerprint located on victim No. 1's doorknob. All three examiners confirmed that the fingerprint on the doorknob matched the fingerprint on defendant's left index finger.

Defendant testified on his own behalf, explaining that, at the time of the alleged crimes, he resided at an apartment on Caroline Street in Saratoga Springs. He explained that he sometimes smoked cigarettes on the front steps of his apartment building and would go for walks on Caroline Street, along a route that took him past victim No. 1's building. However, he denied going out on the street on July 29, 2017 and was adamant that he never entered victim No. 1's apartment. As to the incident in August 2017, defendant testified that he went for a walk on the evening of August 10, 2017, taking his "normal loop" down the street where victim No. 2's residence was located. According to defendant, as he walked down that street, he heard a door slam and someone yell, "Stop. I have a gun." Although defendant ran, he confirmed that victim No. 2 eventually subdued him by punching him in the head while saying, "You were in my house" – an assertion that defendant denied.

On this record, an acquittal on the counts related to the July 2017 incident would not have been unreasonable given victim No. 1's statement to police that the individual she saw standing in her doorway was a white male and defendant's testimony that he never entered her apartment. Nevertheless, victim No. 1 was extensively cross-examined about her initial description of the perpetrator and, when viewing the evidence in a neutral light and deferring to the jury's credibility assessments, we are satisfied that the People proved each element of the crimes related to the July 2017 incident beyond a reasonable doubt. As to the burglary charge, defendant's identity as the person who entered victim No. 1's apartment was established by the testimony of three fingerprint examiners who each independently and successively concluded that his fingerprint matched the latent fingerprint found on the doorknob to her bedroom. Victim No. 1's testimony established that the location burglarized was a dwelling...