People v. Hartle
| Decision Date | 02 June 1989 |
| Citation | 151 A.D.2d 1003,542 N.Y.S.2d 442 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Leslie HARTLE, Sr., Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Edward J. Nowak by Lisa Dolak, Rochester, for appellant.
Howard R. Relin by Alan Cruikshank, Rochester, for respondent.
Before DILLON, P.J., and CALLAHAN, BALIO, LAWTON and DAVIS, JJ.
The court's charge to the jury did not operate to lessen the People's burden of proving every element of the offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. The instruction on the subject of assessing the credibility of witnesses was essentially correct, and while the court inappropriately referred to "equally balanced scales" in discussing the burden of proof (see, People v. Jackson, 124 A.D.2d 975, 976, 509 N.Y.S.2d 230, appeal denied 69 N.Y.2d 746, 512 N.Y.S.2d 1051, 505 N.E.2d 249), the reference was isolated and was followed by a complete instruction on reasonable doubt (see, People v. Thompson, 97 A.D.2d 554, 555, 468 N.Y.S.2d 166). The charge, when read as a whole, conveyed the correct rule of law (see, People v. Canty, 60 N.Y.2d 830, 832, 469 N.Y.S.2d 693, 457 N.E.2d 800; People v. Wynn, 108 A.D.2d 768, 769, 484 N.Y.S.2d 927).
We have examined defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit.
Judgment unanimously affirmed.
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