People v. Lewis

• Citation: 64 N.Y.2d 1111,490 N.Y.S.2d 166
• Parties: , 479 N.E.2d 802 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Charles LEWIS, Appellant.
• Decision Date: 30 April 1985
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 166

490 N.Y.S.2d 166

64 N.Y.2d 1111, 479 N.E.2d 802

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Charles LEWIS, Appellant.

Court of Appeals of New York.

April 30, 1985.

Gerald V. Hayes, Poughkeepsie, for appellant.

Michael Kavanagh, Dist. Atty., Kingston (Joan Lamb, Kingston, of counsel), for respondent.

OPINION OF THE COURT MEMORANDUM.

The order of the Appellate Division 100 A.D.2d 669, 473 N.Y.S.2d 853 should be affirmed.

Viewing the entirely circumstantial evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, and giving it the benefit of every reasonable inference to be drawn therefrom (People v. Way, 59 N.Y.2d 361, 365, 465 N.Y.S.2d 853, 452 N.E.2d 1181; People v. Montanez, 41 N.Y.2d 53, 57, 390 N.Y.S.2d 861, 359 N.E.2d 371), we agree with the majority at the Appellate Division that defendant's guilt was proved beyond a reasonable doubt, as the facts from which the inference of his guilt is drawn, when perceived as a whole, are inconsistent with his innocence and exclude to a moral certainty every other reasonable hypothesis (see, People v. Way, supra; People v. Barnes 50 N.Y.2d 375, 380, 429 N.Y.S.2d 178, 406 N.E.2d 1071; People v. Montanez, supra; People v. Benzinger, 36 N.Y.2d 29, 32, 364 N.Y.S.2d 855, 324 N.E.2d 334).

Defendant was convicted after a jury trial of murder in the second degree for intentionally causing the death of his girlfriend, 20-year-old Lynn Bailey, whose body was found floating in a secluded lake in Ulster County on September 15, 1981. Bailey was tied in a fetal position and wrapped in a black vinyl bag along with rocks and stones, apparently to help sink the body. She had last been seen at approximately 9:40 p.m. on September 10 when she and defendant left the home of a friend in Woodstock to return to the apartment they shared in that same town. The following morning, defendant placed all the belongings of Bailey remaining in the apartment, including her car registration and driver's license, into plastic bags and took them to a town dump. He then, pursuant to a prior agreement with his rental agent, returned the key to the apartment and received the $600 security deposit. Defendant, who worked as a taxi driver, next, ostensibly on an errand for his employer, drove a taxi into Kingston. He left the car near the bus station in Kingston, purchased a ticket for Los Angeles and boarded a bus.

On September 15, 1981, defendant called Woodstock Town Constable Milton Holsapple. Although defendant stated in this conversation that he was in Los Angeles, toll records later revealed that he called from Las Vegas. At the time of this phone call, Constable Holsapple did not know that Bailey had been murdered, nor had any police department received a report that she was missing. Defendant stated that he was calling to inquire as to whether there was a warrant for his arrest for stealing his employer's taxicab and to let the police know that he had abandoned it after it broke down, and he had notified his employer's father of this fact. Defendant then mentioned that he had learned that Bailey was missing. Although defendant claimed in a subsequent phone conversation that he heard about Bailey's disappearance from a friend, Barry Titus, Constable Holsapple testified that in the first phone conversation defendant stated that he had learned this from her parents. Bailey's parents both testified that they had not spoken with the defendant at any time in September 1981.

Defendant, pursuant to Holsapple's request, called again the following day, September 16. As the police by then knew that Bailey had been found dead, the second phone conversation, as well as a third one on September 17, were recorded and the tapes of these two conversations were introduced at trial. Defendant, not aware during...