People v. Ramos

• Decision Date: 05 November 2015
• Citation: 20 N.Y.S.3d 183,133 A.D.3d 904
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Ivan RAMOS, also known as Big Man, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

133 A.D.3d 904

20 N.Y.S.3d 183

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Ivan RAMOS, also known as Big Man, Appellant.

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

Nov. 5, 2015.

Joseph Nalli, Fort Plain, for appellant.

James E. Conboy, District Attorney, Fonda (Sarah J. Leszczynski of counsel), for respondent.

Before: EGAN JR., J.P., ROSE, DEVINE and CLARK, JJ.

CLARK, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Montgomery County (Catena, J.), rendered March 20, 2013, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of murder in the first degree (two counts) and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.

Following the brutal killing of William McDermott and Cheryl Goss Faboskay at McDermott's apartment in Montgomery County, defendant was indicted on two counts each for the crimes of murder in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. A jury thereafter found defendant guilty of both counts of murder and one count of criminal possession of a weapon and he was sentenced, as a second felony offender, to an aggregate term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Defendant now appeals and we affirm.

As an initial matter, defendant's claim that his convictions were not supported by legally sufficient evidence is unpreserved, as his motion to dismiss at the close of the People's case was not based on the grounds that he has now raised on appeal (see People v. Hawkins, 11 N.Y.3d 484, 492, 872 N.Y.S.2d 395, 900 N.E.2d 946 [2008] ; People v. Hook, 80 A.D.3d 881, 882, 914 N.Y.S.2d 755 [2011], lv. denied 17 N.Y.3d 806, 929 N.Y.S.2d 566, 953 N.E.2d 804 [2011] ). In any event, because defendant also contends that his convictions are against the weight of the evidence, we remain obligated to nonetheless conduct "an evaluation of whether all elements of the charged crime [s] were proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial" (People v. Robinson, 123 A.D.3d 1224, 1225, 999 N.Y.S.2d 555 [2014], lvs. denied 25 N.Y.3d 992, 993, 10 N.Y.S.3d 535, 32 N.E.3d 972 [2015] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]; see People v. Danielson, 9 N.Y.3d 342, 348–349, 880 N.E.2d 1 [2007] ). In determining whether the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, we undertake to weigh the probative force of conflicting testimony and the strength of conflicting inferences (see People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495, 515 N.Y.S.2d 761, 508 N.E.2d 672 [1987] ; People v. Salce, 124 A.D.3d 923, 925–926, 1 N.Y.S.3d 417 [2015], lv. denied 25 N.Y.3d 1207, 16 N.Y.S.3d 529, 37 N.E.3d 1172 [2015] ).

For defendant to be found guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, the People were required to prove that defendant possessed a "dangerous or deadly instrument or weapon with intent to use the same unlawfully against another" (Penal Law § 265.01[2] ) and that he had previously been convicted of a crime (see Penal Law § 265.02[1] ). Next, as to the charges of murder in the first degree, the People were required to prove that, "[w]ith intent to cause the death of another person, [defendant] cause[d] the death of such person or of a third person ... and[,] as part of the same criminal transaction, ... defendant, with intent to cause serious physical injury to or the death of an additional person or persons, cause[d] the death of an additional person or persons; provided, however, the victim is not a participant in the criminal transaction" (Penal Law § 125.27[1][a] [viii] ). "Criminal transaction," in turn, is defined as "conduct which establishes at least one offense, and which is comprised of two or more or a group of acts either (a) so closely related and connected in point of time and circumstance of commission as to constitute a single criminal incident, or (b) so closely related in criminal purpose or objective as to constitute elements or integral parts of a single criminal venture" (CPL 40.10[2] ; see People v. Duggins, 3 N.Y.3d 522, 527, 788 N.Y.S.2d 638, 821 N.E.2d 942 [2004] ).

Here, several individuals—including Miguel Quinones, Edward Fisher, Craig McCormick and Deborah Baker—testified that they saw defendant at McDermott's apartment on the evening of March 1, 2012. Quinones, Fisher and McCormick each testified that defendant did not have any cuts or scratches on his face at that time, and Baker testified that defendant was wearing a camouflage coat, T-shirt and gray sweatpants. Explaining that he was expecting a visit from a woman, McDermott asked Fisher and defendant to leave his apartment at approximately 2:00 a.m. on March 2, 2012.

Shortly thereafter, at approximately 3:00 a.m., defendant arrived at the home of Terry Dallas Reedy, where he asked to use the telephone to call McDermott. Reedy allowed him to do so and, after the phone call ended, defendant left Reedy's home. About 30 minutes later, when he was already in bed, Reedy heard McCormick—who was also at Reedy's house—open the door. When Reedy asked McCormick where he was going, McCormick stated that he was going home. Reedy testified that he then fell asleep, but was later awoken by someone banging on his door. Upon answering the door, Reedy found McCormick, who he described as white as a ghost, screaming "they're dead" repeatedly.

McCormick testified that, after leaving Reedy's home, he went back to McDermott's apartment and, upon arriving, noticed a lot of blood in the hallway leading to McDermott's front door. McCormick then tried to gain access to the apartment and, finding the door locked, went around to the back door where he noticed one set of footprints in the snow leading toward the street. McCormick averred that the back door was open, so he entered the apartment and saw large amounts of blood and McDermott and a woman laying on the floor. McCormick testified that he then locked the back door and used a pot holder to open the front door in an effort to avoid touching the blood. He then went through the alleyway next to the apartment to see if anyone was there and, finding no one, proceeded back to Reedy's house, dropping the pot holder in the street on his way.

Richard Haver, who lived in the apartment directly across the hall from McDermott's apartment, testified that he stopped home from work at approximately 2:00 a.m. and the building was quiet at that time. Haver stated that he went back to work a short time later and that, when he returned home at the end of his shift at approximately 5:25 a.m., he saw blood on the walls and floor of the hallway and heard the television playing from inside McDermott's apartment. Haver then called the police.

Elvira Ramos, defendant's sister, testified that she saw defendant on March 1, 2012 and that he was wearing a camouflage jacket when he arrived at her home at around 5:00 a.m. on the morning of March 2, 2012. Mario Rios, who was also present at Ramos' home on the morning in question, testified that he heard defendant using the bathroom and that, after defendant left, he saw water and blood in the bathroom, which he cleaned up. Both Ramos and defendant's wife testified that defendant had scratches on his face, but that they were a week old and that they were caused by his wife hitting him with a lamp.

Israel Toro, an investigator with the State Police, testified that he interviewed defendant and that defendant stated that he left his residence at approximately 5:00 p.m. on March 1, 2012 and arrived at McDermott's apartment around 9:00 p.m. Defendant told Toro that he left McDermott's apartment at approximately 2:30 a.m. and went to Reedy's house, where he called McDermott. Toro testified that defendant stated that he then left Reedy's house and went home, stopping to talk with two people on the way. Toro stated that defendant had indicated that he was wearing a black polo, boots, a jacket and blue jeans and that he had previously sold his camouflage jacket. Defendant later modified his story, telling Toro that he had only sold the insert to the camouflage jacket after leaving McDermott's apartment on the morning of March 2, 2012. Toro stated that he asked defendant if he knew why he was being interviewed and defendant replied that he did not. However, when Toro told defendant that it was in relation to a homicide investigation, Toro stated that defendant "became very emotional, teared up, and started talking about [McDermott]," despite the fact that Toro had not informed defendant of the victims' names. Defendant also told Toro that he kept personal items at McDermott's apartment, including several knives. John Thomas, a detective with the Amsterdam Police Department, explained that surveillance videos of the area where these events took place generally corroborated McCormick's testimony.

Michael Sikirica, a forensic pathologist who performed autopsies on the victims, testified that both victims were stabbed several times and that each had several defensive wounds. Sikirica opined that McDermott's death was caused by asphyxia and hemorrhaging and that Faboskay's...