People v. Hall

• Citation: 267 A.D.2d 473,700 N.Y.S.2d 486
• Parties: 1999 N.Y. Slip Op. 11,109 The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Ronald HALL, appellant.
• Decision Date: 27 December 1999
• Court: New York Supreme Court Appellate Division

Page 486

700 N.Y.S.2d 486

1999 N.Y. Slip Op. 11,109

The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Ronald HALL, appellant.

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

Dec. 27, 1999.

John W. Goldsmith, Middletown, N.Y., for appellant.

Michael E. Bongiorno, District Attorney, New City, N.Y. (Ellen O'Hara Woods of counsel), for respondent.

THOMAS R. SULLIVAN, J.P., WILLIAM D. FRIEDMANN, SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN and NANCY E. SMITH, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

Appeal by the defendant from two judgments of the County Court, Rockland County (Berry, J.), both rendered August 22, 1996, convicting him of (1) driving while intoxicated pursuant to Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192(2) under Indictment No. 95-00220, upon his plea of guilty, and sentencing him to an indeterminate term of 1 1/3 to 4 years imprisonment, to run concurrently with the sentences imposed under Indictment No. 95-00278, and (2) kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, and assault in the second degree under Indictment No. 95-00278, upon a jury verdict, and sentencing him to an indeterminate term of 6 to 12 years imprisonment for the conviction of kidnapping in the second degree, to run consecutively with concurrent terms of 3 1/2 to 7 years imprisonment for the conviction of assault in the second degree and 2 to 4 years imprisonment for the conviction of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree.

ORDERED that the judgment under Indictment No. 95-00220 is modified, on the law, by reducing the term of imprisonment imposed on the conviction of driving while intoxicated from an indeterminate term of 1 1/3 to 4 years imprisonment to an indeterminate term of 1 to 3 years imprisonment; as so modified, the judgment under Indictment No. 95-00220 is affirmed; and it is further,

ORDERED that the judgment under Indictment No. 95-00278 is modified, on the law, by vacating the convictions of kidnapping in the second degree and unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, vacating the sentences imposed thereon, and dismissing those counts of that indictment; as so modified, the judgment under Indictment No. 95-00278 is affirmed.

The trial court erred in declining to merge the defendant's kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment convictions into his assault conviction (see, People v. Gonzalez, 80 N.Y.2d 146, 589 N.Y.S.2d 833, 603 N.E.2d 938; People v. McMahon, 248 A.D.2d 642, 669 N.Y.S.2d 951).

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution (see, People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620, 467 N.Y.S.2d 349, 454 N.E.2d 932), we find that it was legally...