People v. Sallitto
| Decision Date | 01 December 1986 |
| Citation | 125 A.D.2d 345,508 N.Y.S.2d 612 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. John A. SALLITTO, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Paul Rubenfeld, Kew Gardens, for appellant.
Patrick Henry, Dist. Atty., Riverhead (John J. Andrews, of counsel, Lisa Azzato, on brief), for respondent.
Before THOMPSON, J.P., and BRACKEN, RUBIN and SPATT, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Suffolk County (Kitson, J.), rendered September 16, 1982, convicting him of reckless endangerment in the first degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, on the law, the indictment is dismissed, and the case is remitted to the County Court, Suffolk County, for the purpose of entering an order in its discretion pursuant to CPL 160.50.
The defendant was charged in a single-count indictment with reckless endangerment in the first degree.
The evidence adduced at trial revealed that the defendant fired several shots from a .22-caliber rifle while standing on the raised front porch of his house, facing Park Avenue in Huntington, New York. Traffic on Park Avenue was moderate to heavy at that time. At least one of the shots hit a plastic flower pot on the lawn of the house, about 25 feet from the porch and 10 to 15 feet from Park Avenue. Although the indictment charged that the defendant fired a number of shots into passing automobile traffic, there was no properly admitted evidence that he actually did so.
A conviction for reckless endangerment in the first degree requires a showing that the defendant, under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to another person (Penal Law § 120.25). The facts of the instant case, when viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, reveal that the defendant fired one or more shots in the general direction of Park Avenue, at least one of which hit an object 10 feet short of the roadway. This conduct does not establish that the defendant acted under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, or that he created a grave risk of death (see, People v. Richardson, 97 A.D.2d 693, 468 N.Y.S.2d 114; cf. People v. Menard, 113 A.D.2d 972, 493 N.Y.S.2d 643; People v. Fenner, 61 N.Y.2d 971, 475 N.Y.S.2d 276, 463 N.E.2d 617; People v. Register, 60 N.Y.2d 270, 469 N.Y.S.2d 599, 457 N.E.2d 704, cert. denied ...
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People v. Davis
...97 A.D.2d 693, 468 N.Y.S.2d 114, supra ) or in the general direction of a roadway but considerably short of it ( People v. Sallitto, 125 AD2d 345, 508 N.Y.S.2d 612) does not constitute reckless endangerment. In this case, the evidence established that although defendant pulled the trigger h......
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People v. Thompson
...was in or near the line of fire ( see People v. Bennett, 193 A.D.2d 808, 809, 598 N.Y.S.2d 84 [1993]; see also People v. Sallitto, 125 A.D.2d 345, 346, 508 N.Y.S.2d 612 [1986], lv. denied 69 N.Y.2d 833, 513 N.Y.S.2d 1041, 506 N.E.2d 552 [1987]; compare People v. Watson, 299 A.D.2d 735, 737,......
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People v. R.P.
...sustaining a reckless endangerment prosecution involve shootings into a public street or trafficked area. See. People v. Sallitto , 125 A.D.2d 345, 508 N.Y.S.2d 612 (Second Dept., 1986) ; and People v. Stanley , 108 A.D.3d 1129, 970 N.Y.S.2d 136 (Fourth Dept., 2013).The unique facts of the ......
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United States v. Crocker
... ... indifference to human life ... Crocker ... contends that under controlling New York law-namely ... People v. Suarez, 6 N.Y.3d 202 (2005) and People ... v. Jones, 100 A.D.3d 1362, 953 N.Y.S.2d 416 (4d ... Dep't 2012)-a reckless endangerment ... apart from the driver of the grey sedan at grave risk of ... death. See People v. Sallitto, 125 A.D.2d 345, 346, ... 508 N.Y.S.2d 612, 613 (2d Dep't 1986) (where the ... "defendant fired one or more shots in the general ... ...