People v. Ramos

• Decision Date: 01 May 2012
• Citation: 19 N.Y.3d 133,946 N.Y.S.2d 83,969 N.E.2d 199,2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 03360
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Luis RAMOS, Appellant.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

19 N.Y.3d 133

969 N.E.2d 199

946 N.Y.S.2d 83

2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 03360

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Luis RAMOS, Appellant.

Court of Appeals of New York.

May 1, 2012.

Appellate Advocates, New York City (Katherine A. Levine and Lynn W.L. Fahey of counsel), for appellant.

Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn (Jill Oziem-blewski and Leonard Joblove of counsel), for respondent.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Chief Judge LIPPMAN.

The question presented by this appeal is whether there is legally sufficient evidence to sustain defendant's conviction for manslaughter in the first degree. Defendant maintains that there was insufficient evidence that he intended to cause serious physical injury when he fired a gun into a crowd of people. Under the circumstances presented, the evidence was legally sufficient and we therefore uphold the conviction.

Just before midnight on October 2, 2004, defendant was involved in a physical altercation on a Brooklyn street with a woman named Norma. Shortly thereafter, Norma met her brother at a nearby bodega and, together, they returned to the block to confront defendant. Defendant apparently was on the losing end of their second skirmish and was laughed at by several individuals who witnessed the encounter.

Defendant then obtained a small handgun from a nearby building and proceeded to the corner bodega. At that time of night, the bodega provided service through an open window and there was a group of people waiting outside. Six shots were fired into the crowd and the victim, Harold Mason, was killed. Witnesses saw defendant running from the scene with the gun. He was not arrested until about two years after the shooting. At trial, a witness testified to a conversation he had with defendant about two months after the incident, in which defendant stated, when asked why he shot the victim, that “he was high and drunk, and he blacked out, and he went to the corner and started spraying, shooting.” Defendant also indicated that, given the small caliber of his weapon, “[h]e didn't think it would kill anybody.”

Defendant was indicted for two counts of intentional second degree murder—one count based on a theory that he intended to kill Mason and the other based on a theory of transferred intent.^* Before the case was submitted to the jury, the court granted defendant's motion to dismiss the count that was based on the theory that defendant intended to kill Harold Mason, finding no evidence to support the conclusion that defendant targeted Mason in particular. Defendant also moved to dismiss the transferred intent charge, arguing there was insufficient evidence that he intended to cause the death of a person and, instead, the evidence reflected a reckless act. The court denied the motion to dismiss that count and, over defendant's objection, submitted the lesser included offense of manslaughter in the first degree to the jury ( seePenal Law § 125.20[1] [“A person is guilty of manslaughter in the first degree when ... [w]ith intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, he causes the death of such person or of a third person”] ). At defendant's request, the court also submitted the count of manslaughter in the second degree.

The jury acquitted defendant of second degree murder, but convicted him of first degree manslaughter. The Appellate Division affirmed, finding that there was legally sufficient evidence to establish defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (80 A.D.3d 716, 914 N.Y.S.2d 673 [2d Dept.2011] ). A Judge of this Court granted defendant leave to appeal (17 N.Y.3d 799, 929 N.Y.S.2d 107, 952 N.E.2d 1102 [2011] ) and we now affirm.

In determining whether the evidence is legally sufficient to support defendant's conviction, we must evaluate “whether, ‘after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the [People], any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt’ ” ( People v. Santi, 3 N.Y.3d 234, 246, 785 N.Y.S.2d 405, 818 N.E.2d 1146 [2004], quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 [1979];see also People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620, 621, 467 N.Y.S.2d 349, 454 N.E.2d 932 [1983] ). Where 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,” the defendant's conviction will be upheld ( People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495, 515 N.Y.S.2d 761, 508 N.E.2d 672 [1987] ).

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People, a reasonable jury could have concluded that defendant fired his gun with the intent to cause serious physical injury and, as a result, caused Mason's death. Based on the trial testimony, the jury could have determined that defendant was...