People v. Harris

• Decision Date: 30 June 2022
• Docket Number: 111779
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Paul HARRIS, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

206 A.D.3d 1454

170 N.Y.S.3d 393

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Paul HARRIS, Appellant.

111779

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

Calendar Date: May 31, 2022

Decided and Entered: June 30, 2022

John R. Trice, Elmira, for appellant, and appellant pro se.

P. David Soares, District Attorney, Albany (Emily Schultz of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Garry, P.J., Egan Jr., Clark, Aarons and McShan, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

McShan, J. Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (McDonough, J.), rendered May 16, 2019 in Albany County, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crime of burglary in the second degree (four counts).

Between December 21, 2017 and January 12, 2018, four homes in Albany County were burglarized. Those burglaries occurred in the Village of Altamont (counts one and two), the Town of Colonie (count three) and the Town of Guilderland (count four). The third burglary produced a lead that ultimately directed investigators to defendant. In January 2018, defendant was indicted on four counts of burglary in the second degree and, following a jury trial, he was convicted as charged. He was later sentenced, as a persistent violent felony offender, to a prison term of 25 years to life for each count, with counts 1 and 2 of the indictment to run consecutively to one another, and counts 3 and 4 to run concurrently with count 1, for an aggregate total prison term of 50 years to life. Defendant appeals.

Defendant contends that his convictions are not supported by legally sufficient evidence and that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, contending that he was not the perpetrator of the burglaries and that the stolen items were not under his control. "In reviewing legal sufficiency, this Court must ‘view the evidence in the light most favorable to the People and evaluate whether there is any valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences which could lead a rational person to the conclusion reached by the jury on the basis of the evidence at trial and as a matter of law satisfy the proof and burden requirements for every element of the crime[s] charged’ " ( People v. Watkins, 180 A.D.3d 1222, 1223–1224, 120 N.Y.S.3d 500 [2020], lvs denied 35 N.Y.3d 1026, 1030, 126 N.Y.S.3d 26, 25, 149 N.E.3d 864, 863 [2020], quoting People v. Henry, 173 A.D.3d 1470, 1473, 103 N.Y.S.3d 656 [2019], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 932, 109 N.Y.S.3d 699, 133 N.E.3d 399 [2019] ; see People v. Oliveras, 203 A.D.3d 1233, 1234, 162 N.Y.S.3d 591 [2022] ). In contrast, "[w]hen assessing whether a verdict is supported by the weight of the evidence, we must first determine whether, based on all the credible evidence, a different finding would not have been unreasonable, and, if it would have been reasonable for the jury to reach a different conclusion, then we must weigh the relative probative force of conflicting testimony and the relative strength of conflicting inferences that may be drawn from the testimony to determine whether the jury has failed to give the evidence the weight it should be accorded" ( People v. Harris, 203 A.D.3d 1320, 1321, 164 N.Y.S.3d 320 [2022] [internal quotation marks, brackets and citations omitted], lvs denied 38 N.Y.3d 1033, 1031, 1034, 169 N.Y.S.3d 226, 246, 189 N.E.3d 333, 353 [May 9, 2022]; see People v. Forney, 183 A.D.3d 1113, 1114, 124 N.Y.S.3d 732 [2020], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 1065, 129 N.Y.S.3d 397, 152 N.E.3d 1198 [2020] ). 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] ; see People v. Oliveras, 203 A.D.3d at 1235, 162 N.Y.S.3d 591, 162 N.Y.S.3d ).

At trial, the People elicited testimony from John Pietrzak, who lived with defendant during the relevant timeframe and admitted that he had participated in three of the four burglaries by driving defendant to the various locations. As for the first burglary on Sand Street in the Village of Altamont, Pietrzak explained that, on December 21, 2017, defendant asked Pietrzak to "drive for him while he ... broke into a house." Pietrzak testified that defendant wanted Pietrzak to pull up and let defendant out, and then continue driving around the block until he saw defendant exit. Pietrzak testified that on that day he drove defendant to a house on Sand Street in the Village of Altamont. According to Pietrzak, upon arriving near the home, defendant "got out, put on his gloves, hat, crowbar, [and] walked away." After circling the area for several minutes, Pietrzak spotted defendant walking back to the car with a bag in his hand. Pietrzak testified that when defendant got back in the vehicle, he pulled out cash and "[a] bunch of coins." The owner of that burglarized residence (hereinafter victim No. 1) testified that he had returned home from work and noticed that a kitchen window and one of the two doors to the home were open. Victim No. 1 observed that a chair had been placed under the kitchen window that appeared as though "it was used to climb in." The contents of several rooms were strewn about, and various items were missing from the home, including jewelry, cash and an alarm clock that was in a bedroom. A forensic scientist with the New York State forensic investigation center testified that DNA swabs were lifted from the windowsill and that the partial mixture profile from the swabs was "consistent with DNA from at least two donors with the major contributor matching [defendant]."

With respect to the second burglary, on January 5, 2018, the Altamont Police Department responded to a report of another burglary on Western Avenue. The homeowner (hereinafter victim No. 2) testified that he returned home from work and discovered that his back door had been "kicked in" and that every drawer inside of the residence had been opened and it appeared as though someone had gone through them. According to victim No. 2, several items were missing from his residence, including his son's Versace sunglasses and a jar of change. A neighbor also observed a "6–foot slim subject wearing dark clothing" and a "dark hat" exit the passenger side of a maroon vehicle, and later observed him leaving while carrying an object. The neighbor also observed defendant get back into the maroon car, which had made several passes by the residence while the individual was inside. Pietrzak confirmed that he drove defendant to the Western Avenue house on that date. According to Pietrzak, defendant got out of the vehicle, took his crowbar and asked Pietrzak to "[d]rive away" and "wait for him." Pietrzak recalled that defendant returned to the vehicle with a "bunch of change."

Regarding the third burglary, the homeowner of a residence on Old Niskayuna Road in the Town of Colonie (hereinafter victim No. 3) testified that she had returned home on January 10, 2018 and discovered that her back door was wide open and that there were signs of forced entry. Upon entering her residence, victim No. 3 noticed that her possessions were strewn about and that certain items of jewelry were missing. Further, two employees who worked in an adjacent warehouse testified that they had observed a maroon Mercury Sable¹ that they did not recognize parked in the warehouse parking lot and also observed a young male in the vehicle who appeared to be "uneasy" and was "fidgeting around in the car." The employees later observed "an older gentleman" who was "wearing jeans, a black Carhartt jacket, a black beanie" and black boots return to the vehicle carrying a laundry basket with a black bag inside of it, which he placed in the back seat of the car before getting into the vehicle and departing from the lot. One of the employees identified defendant in court as the individual he had observed that day. Pietrzak testified that on that date he and defendant drove to a residence on Old Niskayuna Road and parked in the parking lot of the neighboring building. Pietrzak also testified that defendant left the vehicle and returned with a laundry basket "filled with gold chains[ and] jewelry."

As for the fourth burglary, the People presented evidence that, on January 12, 2018, the homeowner of a residence on State Farm Road in the Town of Guilderland (hereinafter victim No. 4) returned home from an appointment and discovered that his back door was open and was damaged around the molding. Victim No. 4 observed a crowbar in the residence and that several drawers in his home had been opened, and testified that several items were missing including his class ring and two large water jugs filled with a collection of change that he estimated amounted to approximately $10,000. Various items from all four burglaries were later recovered from the residence that defendant shared with Pietrzak. At trial, each of the victims confirmed that those items were the same ones that were taken from their residences.

For his part, defendant testified that he was not the perpetrator of the four burglaries. He noted that he was recently released from prison in February 2017 after serving a 26–year sentence, and that he "would have to be some kind of fool to go out and do a burglary knowing that they're going to put [him] away forever." Defendant averred that Pietrzak had implored him to visit the home on Old Niskayuna Road to meet someone that wanted to sell defendant some items. According to defendant, he met an individual at the address and purchased some "stuff" from that individual and left. Defendant suggested that he was unfamiliar with the other residences that had been burglarized. On cross-examination, defendant stated that the individual he met at the Old Niskayuna Road address was selling "a tray with a bunch of rings on it and a bag with some change and stuff in it." Defendant also averred that the jacket in which victim No. 4's ring was found was a "[c]ommunity jacket[ ]" that everyone in his home...