People v. Saunders

• Decision Date: 24 October 2019
• Docket Number: 107584
• Citation: 111 N.Y.S.3d 445,176 A.D.3d 1384
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Nigel SAUNDERS, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

176 A.D.3d 1384

111 N.Y.S.3d 445

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Nigel SAUNDERS, Appellant.

107584

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

Calendar Date: September 3, 2019

Decided and Entered: October 24, 2019

John A. Cirando, Syracuse, for appellant.

Kirk O. Martin, Special Prosecutor, Owego (Sandra L. Cardone of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch, Clark, Mulvey and Pritzker, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Egan Jr., J.P. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Broome County (Smith, J.), rendered March 27, 2015, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of burglary in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, murder in the second degree (two counts) and assault in the second degree.

At approximately 6:00 a.m. on November 4, 2013, a newspaper employee was driving on Mygatt Street in the City of Binghamton, Broome County when he encountered a young woman (hereinafter victim A) walking in the street, naked from the waist down, covered in blood and pleading for help. The driver called 911 and, while on the telephone with the dispatcher, spoke with victim A who indicated that her boyfriend (hereinafter victim B) had been killed, that she had been raped, beaten and stabbed and that the two assailants had stolen victim B's truck, a black 2001 Dodge Ram, and fled the scene. She also identified defendant as one of the two assailants. The police thereafter obtained an address for defendant; however, no one answered the door to his apartment when they attempted to locate him at approximately 9:00 a.m. A few minutes later, defendant called the Binghamton police, spoke to a police captain and agreed to voluntarily go to the police station to be interviewed. Police subsequently observed defendant exit his apartment building and, upon inquiry, he agreed to accompany them to the station. He was arrested later that day.

In December 2013, defendant and his codefendant, Julian Talamantez, were charged by indictment with, as relevant here, the crimes of burglary in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, two counts of murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree; defendant's charges were all based on a theory of accomplice liability.¹ Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted as charged. He was thereafter sentenced, as a second violent felony offender, to concurrent prison terms of 25 years, to be followed by five years of postrelease supervision, on each of his convictions for burglary in the first degree, robbery in the first degree and murder in the second degree (two counts). Defendant was also sentenced to a consecutive prison term of seven years, to be followed by five years of postrelease supervision, for his conviction of assault in the second degree. Defendant appeals.

Defendant contends that his convictions are not supported by legally sufficient evidence and are against the weight of the evidence because the proof at trial failed to, among other things, establish that he was present at the victims' residence on the morning in question. As defendant concedes, however, his challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence is unpreserved for appellate review as he only made a general motion for a trial order of dismissal at the close of the People's proof and subsequently failed to renew said motion following presentation of his own case (see People v. Trappler, 173 A.D.3d 1334, 1334–1335, 102 N.Y.S.3d 756 [2019] ; People v. Thorpe, 141 A.D.3d 927, 928, 35 N.Y.S.3d 769 [2016], lv denied 28 N.Y.3d 1031, 45 N.Y.S.3d 383, 68 N.E.3d 112 [2016] ). Nevertheless, as part of our weight of the evidence review, we must necessarily determine whether the elements of the charged crimes were proven at trial beyond a reasonable doubt (see People v. Martinez, 166 A.D.3d 1292, 1293, 88 N.Y.S.3d 665 [2018], lv denied 32 N.Y.3d 1207, 99 N.Y.S.3d 208, 122 N.E.3d 1121 [2019] ; People v. Oliver, 135 A.D.3d 1188, 1190, 23 N.Y.S.3d 696 [2016], lv denied 27 N.Y.3d 1003, 38 N.Y.S.3d 113, 59 N.E.3d 1225 [2016] ).

"In conducting a weight of the evidence review, we view the evidence in a neutral light and determine first whether a different verdict would have been unreasonable and, if not, weigh the relative probative force of conflicting testimony and the relative strength of conflicting inferences that may be drawn from the testimony to determine if the verdict is supported by the weight of the evidence" ( People v. Henry, 173 A.D.3d 1470, 1473, 103 N.Y.S.3d 656 [2019] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 932, 109 N.Y.S.3d 699, 133 N.E.3d 399 [Aug. 29, 2019] ; see People v. Mateo, 2 N.Y.3d 383, 410, 779 N.Y.S.2d 399, 811 N.E.2d 1053 [2004], cert denied 542 U.S. 946, 124 S.Ct. 2929, 159 L.Ed.2d 828 [2004] ). As relevant here, "[a] person is liable as an accomplice for the conduct of another person ‘when, acting with the mental culpability required for the commission thereof, he [or she] solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or intentionally aids such person to engage in such conduct’ " ( People v. Williams, 156 A.D.3d 1224, 1226, 69 N.Y.S.3d 367 [2017], lv denied 31 N.Y.3d 1018, 78 N.Y.S.3d 288, 102 N.E.3d 1069 [2018], quoting Penal Law § 20.00 ; see People v. Smith, 174 A.D.3d 1039, 1041, 104 N.Y.S.3d 413 [2019] ). To be found guilty of burglary in the first degree, the People are required to prove that the defendant "knowingly enter[ed] or remain[ed] unlawfully in a dwelling with intent to commit a crime therein, and when, in effecting entry or while in the dwelling or in immediate flight therefrom, he[, she] or another participant in the crime ... [c]auses physical injury to any person who is not a participant in the crime" ( Penal Law § 140.30[2] ). "A person is guilty of robbery in the first degree when he [or she] forcibly steals property and when, in the course of the commission of the crime or of immediate flight therefrom, he or [she] ... [c]auses serious physical injury to any person who is not a participant in the crime" ( Penal Law § 160.15[1] ). Additionally, "[a] person is guilty of murder in the second degree when[,] ... [w]ith intent to cause the death of another person, he [or she] causes the death of such person or of a third person" ( Penal Law § 125.25[1] ), or when "he [or she] commits or attempts to commit robbery [or] burglary ... and, in the course of and in furtherance of such crime or of immediate flight therefrom, he [or she] ... causes the death of a person [that was not a participant]" ( Penal Law § 125.25[3] ). Lastly, "[a] person is guilty of assault in the second degree when[,] ... [i]n the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempted commission of a felony, ... or of immediate flight therefrom, he, [she] or another participant[,] if there be any, causes physical injury to a person other than one of the participants" ( Penal Law § 120.05[6] ).

The evidence introduced at trial established that defendant and victim B had been friends since childhood. In April or May 2013, following the death of victim B's mother, defendant moved into the residence that victim A and victim B shared. In June 2013, however, the victims made a complaint to police against defendant after approximately $7,000 went missing from their home; they had not otherwise seen or heard from defendant since the complaint. Defendant was subsequently incarcerated for an unrelated parole violation and, following his release from jail, he sent a Facebook message to victim B's sister on October 8, 2013 blaming victim B for him having been sent back to jail and threatening that he was going to "f* *k [victim B] up." Approximately one month later, on the evening of November 3, 2013, defendant visited his friend, Jason Deskin, in order to, among other things, obtain a gun because he had a "score" to settle with "people that he lived with before." Although Deskin had no gun, he did ask defendant to get him heroin and, a couple hours later, Deskin and his girlfriend rode with another friend to pick up defendant and Talamantez – who lived together – to go get drugs, dropping them off around the corner from the victims' residence at approximately 1:00 a.m.²

Meanwhile, having gone to bed at approximately 10:30 p.m. the prior evening, the victims were awakened in the middle of the night when two men wearing ski masks busted into their bedroom yelling "DEA." The two men attacked the victims, beating them and shocking them with tasers. Victim A was brought into the upstairs hallway and told to sit down, as her hands were tied behind her back, while Talamantez continued to beat victim B. When the individual tying her hands behind her back asked victim A where the victims' money and marihuana were located, she immediately recognized the voice as that of defendant, her former roommate. She subsequently showed defendant where the victims' money was, and defendant took the $1,000 that they had in their bedroom. Defendant and Talamantez then led the victims to a small room in the basement, where defendant tied their ankles together. While defendant went upstairs, Talamantez raped victim A and then locked the victims in the basement room and returned upstairs. Sometime later, defendant and Talamantez reappeared and defendant struck victim A in the head with a machete, before leaving again. The victims were ultimately able to untie their restraints, but, when Talamantez again returned, victim B unsuccessfully attempted to rush him, whereupon Talamantez began repeatedly stabbing victim B, ultimately severing his carotid artery, killing him. Talamantez then stabbed victim A multiple times in the stomach, arm, leg and back and then once again left the room. When Talamantez returned, victim A attempted to "play[ ] dead," but Talamantez subsequently poured a "gassy fluid" over both her and victim B and lit it on fire, causing her to jump away from the fire. Talamantez then pushed her back in the room, locked the door and left....