People v. Oquendo
| Decision Date | 13 October 1987 |
| Citation | 519 N.Y.S.2d 877,133 A.D.2d 709 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Freddie OQUENDO, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Philip L. Weinstein, New York City (Barry D. Leiwant, of counsel; Theresa McGovern, on the brief), for appellant.
Elizabeth Holtzman, Dist. Atty., Brooklyn (Barbara D. Underwood, Michael Gore and Richard J. Cutler, of counsel), for respondent.
Before MANGANO, J.P., and BRACKEN, BROWN and NIEHOFF, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Aiello, J.) rendered June 12, 1984, convicting him of robbery in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The complainant testified that he was robbed by the defendant and the codefendant while on his way to work. The codefendant testified that she was a prostitute, that the complainant had paid her to engage in a sexual act at his apartment, and that, when she left, he had given her a jacket in the pocket of which she found the wallet which the complainant claimed had been forcibly taken from him.
The defendant claims that his guilt was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt in the face of the confused and sometimes inconsistent version of the events rendered by the complainant. Credibility is a matter to be resolved primarily by the jury (see, People v. Gavins, 118 A.D.2d 582, 499 N.Y.S.2d 442, lv. denied 67 N.Y.2d 1052, 504 N.Y.S.2d 1028, 495 N.E.2d 361), and there was nothing to prevent the jury from accepting the complainant's version of the incident, even though it contained certain inconsistencies (see, People v. Badalucco, 127 A.D.2d 669, 511 N.Y.S.2d 893, lv. denied 69 N.Y.2d 947, 509 N.E.2d 365; People v. Rosenfeld, 93 A.D.2d 872, 461 N.Y.S.2d 383, lv. denied 59 N.Y.2d 977, 466 N.Y.S.2d 1038, 453 N.E.2d 562). Upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the evidence established the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see, CPL 470.15[5] ).
The defendant's contention that he was prejudiced by the prosecutor's summation is without merit. The record reveals that the alleged errors are either unpreserved for our review (see, People v. Balls, 69 N.Y.2d 641, 511 N.Y.S.2d 586, 503 N.E.2d 1017), lacking in prejudicial effect (see, People v. Taylor, 128 A.D.2d 653, 512 N.Y.S.2d 895), or the subject of the court's prompt curative instructions (see, People v. Santiago, 52 N.Y.2d 865, 437 N.Y.S.2d 75, 418 N.E.2d 668; People v. Watson, 121 A.D.2d 487, 503 N.Y.S.2d 584, lv. denied 68 N.Y.2d 818, 507 N.Y.S.2d 1036, 499 N.E.2d 885).
The defendant is incorrect when he argues that in charging that the codefendant was an interested witness, the court should have charged that the complainant was also an interested witness as a...
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