People v. Rizvi

• Decision Date: 19 March 2015
• Docket Number: 104624
• Citation: 126 A.D.3d 1172,2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 02145,5 N.Y.S.3d 596
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Amir Syed RIZVI, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

126 A.D.3d 1172

5 N.Y.S.3d 596

2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 02145

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent

v.Amir Syed RIZVI, Appellant.

104624

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

March 19, 2015.

James P. Milstein, Public Defender, Albany (Theresa M. Suozzi of counsel), for appellant, and appellant pro se.

P. David Soares, District Attorney, Albany (Vincent Stark of counsel), for respondent.

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

Opinion

DEVINE, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Albany County (Herrick, J.), rendered July 27, 2011, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of making a terroristic threat and identity theft in the first degree.

After a threatening email was directed to then-Governor David Paterson via his government website in April 2010, police investigators discovered that the email, although made to appear as though it had been sent by defendant's former spouse, was actually sent by defendant from a computer located in the Brooklyn Public Library. Defendant was charged by indictment with making a terroristic threat and identity theft in the first degree. Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of the charges and subsequently sentenced to a prison term of four years with three years of postrelease supervision for the terrorist threat conviction and 2 ½ to 7 years for the identity theft conviction, to be served concurrently. Defendant appeals.

Defendant contends that County Court's admission of statements rendered to police investigators in violation of his Miranda rights deprived him of a fair trial. We disagree. The People bore the burden of demonstrating beyond a reasonable doubt “that any custodial interrogation was preceded by the administration and defendant's knowing waiver of his Miranda rights” (People v. Mattis, 108 A.D.3d 872, 874, 969 N.Y.S.2d 581 [2013], lvs. denied22 N.Y.3d 957, 957, 977 N.Y.S.2d 188, 188, 999 N.E.2d 553, 553 [2013] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted] ). During the suppression hearing, County Court heard testimony that police investigators retrieved defendant from his residence and informed him that they were taking him to a State Police barracks. While placed in handcuffs and sitting in the back of a police vehicle, an officer recited the requisite Miranda warning from a preprinted card and asked defendant if he understood his rights, to which defendant responded affirmatively. Defendant then responded to police questioning for approximately 90 minutes in an interrogation room until he requested an attorney, at which point the interview stopped. Despite his insistence that he was never given a warning and was subjected to coercive police tactics, the evidence before County Court revealed that defendant knowingly and intelligently provided answers during the interview. Further, there was no evidence indicating that defendant was suffering from a mental defect at the time that would render his statements involuntary (see People v. Sabines, 121 A.D.3d 1409, 1411, 995 N.Y.S.2d 377 [2014] ; People v. Pouliot, 64 A.D.3d 1043, 1045–1046, 883 N.Y.S.2d 372 [2009], lv. denied 13 N.Y.3d 838, 890 N.Y.S.2d 454, 918 N.E.2d 969 [2009] ). Accordingly, County Court properly declined to suppress defendant's statements.

Defendant's argument that County Court improperly permitted certain Molineux evidence is also without merit. Evidence of a defendant's prior bad acts is permissible “when it is relevant to a material issue in the case other than defendant's criminal propensity” (People v. Dorm, 12 N.Y.3d 16, 19, 874 N.Y.S.2d 866, 903 N.E.2d 263 [2009] ; see People v. Johnson, 106 A.D.3d 1272, 1274, 965 N.Y.S.2d 220 [2013], lvs. denied21 N.Y.3d 1043, 1045, 1046, 972 N.Y.S.2d 540, 543, 544, 995 N.E.2d 856, 859, 860 [2013] ). Here, the People's request to offer evidence of defendant's previous acts of sending threatening emails to government officials that appeared to have been sent by defendant's former spouse and her family, as well as testimony from his former spouse regarding defendant's prior filing of false reports against her, had significant probative value as it demonstrated defendant's intent and motive and was inextricably interwoven with the facts surrounding the April 2010 email at issue in this case. Furthermore, as the court provided limiting instructions to the jury and precluded the admission of the substance of the prior communications, it cannot be said that defendant was prejudiced by such evidence (see People v. Nehma, 101 A.D.3d 1170, 1173, 954 N.Y.S.2d 706 [2012] ; People v. Kindred, 100 A.D.3d 1038, 1039, 952 N.Y.S.2d 832 [2012], lv. denied 21 N.Y.3d 913, 966 N.Y.S.2d 364, 988 N.E.2d 893 [2013] ; People v. Edmunds, 21 A.D.3d 578, 580, 799 N.Y.S.2d 338 [2005], lv. denied 5 N.Y.3d 828, 804 N.Y.S.2d 42, 837 N.E.2d 741 [2005] ).

Defendant next contends that there was legally insufficient proof to support his conviction of making a terroristic threat and that said conviction was contrary to the weight of the evidence.¹ In determining whether a verdict was supported by legally sufficient proof, we must view the evidence in a light most favorable to the People to determine “whether there is any valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences which could lead a rational person to the conclusion reached by the jury” (People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495, 515 N.Y.S.2d 761, 508 N.E.2d 672 [1987] ; see People v. Phoenix, 115 A.D.3d 1058, 1061, 981 N.Y.S.2d 851 [2014], lv. denied 23 N.Y.3d 1024, 992 N.Y.S.2d 806, 16 N.E.3d 1286 [2014] ; People v. Souffrant, 93 A.D.3d 885, 886, 939 N.Y.S.2d 190 [2012], lv. denied 19 N.Y.3d 968, 950 N.Y.S.2d 120, 973 N.E.2d 218 [2012] ). A conviction for making a terroristic threat relies upon proof, as is relevant herein, that the defendant “with intent to ... affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping, he or she threatens to commit or cause to be committed a specified offense and thereby causes a reasonable expectation or fear of the imminent commission of such offense” (Penal Law § 490.20[1] ).

At trial, the People presented evidence that showed defendant using a computer inside the library at the time that the email was sent. Trial testimony revealed that the email threatened to murder the Governor, his spouse and other citizens of the state unless an imprisoned terrorist was released from incarceration and, further, that law enforcement officials considered it a serious and imminent threat that warranted investigation (see People v. Jenner, 39 A.D.3d 1083, 1086, 835 N.Y.S.2d 501 [2007], lv. denied 9 N.Y.3d 845, 840 N.Y.S.2d 772, 872 N.E.2d 885 [2007] ). Contrary to defendant's contention that the People failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he possessed the requisite intent to commit the charged crime, the trial evidence demonstrated that he sent the threatening email...