People v. Saunders
| Decision Date | 13 May 1999 |
| Citation | 261 A.D.2d 718,691 N.Y.S.2d 197 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Nathan SAUNDERS, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
John J. Privitera, Albany, for appellant.
Sol Greenberg, District Attorney (Mirriam Z. Seddiq of counsel), Albany, for respondent.
Before: CARDONA, P.J., MIKOLL, YESAWICH JR., SPAIN and GRAFFEO, JJ.
Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Keegan, J.), rendered July 27, 1995 in Albany County, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of kidnapping in the first degree (two counts), kidnapping in the second degree, assault in the second degree, escape in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child (two counts) and unlawful imprisonment in the first degree.
On the morning of August 29, 1994, defendant, an inmate at Hudson Correctional Facility in Columbia County, walked away from a supervised kitchen work detail at the State Department of Correctional Services (hereinafter DOCS) training academy in the City of Albany. Before leaving, defendant called his 15-year-old former girlfriend (hereinafter the victim) and told her he was coming home on a seven-day furlough. The victim lived with her mother and defendant's eight-month-old daughter. Defendant arrived at her apartment at approximately 9:30 A.M., came inside and locked the door. He showed her the knife and said, "Do you remember when I said I was going to kill you?" He had threatened her two weeks earlier when he asked her if she was cheating on him. Defendant asked her about a boy she was allegedly seeing and punched her twice in the forehead. He hit her on the left hand with a stick, choked her, bit her on the cheek, and inflicted nine superficial knife wounds about her left shoulder.
Meanwhile, Vernon Fonda and other investigators from DOCS' Inspector General's office arrived at the victim's apartment. At their request the victim's mother unlocked the door and gave them permission to enter, which they did at approximately 1:00 P.M. Fonda found defendant and the victim inside a bedroom. Upon seeing the investigators, defendant jumped up, grabbed the victim and placed a knife to her throat. He refused Fonda's order to drop the knife and release the victim and the baby. For the next 15 hours, hostage negotiators tried unsuccessfully to get defendant to surrender. Noticing that defendant was growing increasingly more tired, the authorities formulated a plan to disarm him. When defendant fell asleep at approximately 4:00 A.M. on August 30, 1994, they administered a debilitating spray and apprehended him.
Defendant was charged in a 10-count indictment with kidnapping in the first degree (counts 1, 2 and 3), kidnapping in the second degree (counts 4 and 5), escape in the second degree (count 6), assault in the second degree (count 7), criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree (count 8) and endangering the welfare of a child (counts 9 and 10). Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of two counts of kidnapping in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, escape in the second degree, assault in the second degree, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, as a lesser included offense under counts 3 and 5. He was sentenced as a second felony offender to a prison term totaling 29 years to life. Defendant appeals.
Defendant contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for kidnapping in the first degree under the theory charged in the second count. That count alleged that he abducted the victim to "advance the commission of [the] felony" (see, Penal Law § 135.25[b] ) of escape in the second degree (see, Penal Law § 205.10 ). Defendant argues that the crime of escape was completed when he left the training academy and, therefore, he did not advance its commission during the standoff at the apartment. Additionally, he argues that there is no evidence that he held the victim hostage to get away from the apartment. We find that the escape charged in the sixth count began when defendant left the training academy since he was effectively beyond DOCS' custody (see, Penal Law § 205.00; People v. Mesa, 188 A.D.2d 688, 591 N.Y.S.2d 81, lv. denied 81 N.Y.2d 844, 595 N.Y.S.2d 743, 611 N.E.2d 782). Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People (see, People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620, 621, 467 N.Y.S.2d 349, 454 N.E.2d 932), we find a valid line of reasoning by which a jury could rationally conclude beyond a reasonable doubt (see, People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495, 515 N.Y.S.2d 761, 508 N.E.2d 672) (even in the absence of proof that defendant intended further flight from the premises) that the abduction of the victim served to evade custody by remaining beyond the control of DOCS' personnel for its duration (see, People v. Sargent, 194 A.D.2d 865, 598 N.Y.S.2d 851). Thus, the evidence was legally sufficient to establish that the abduction advanced the commission of the crime of escape in the second degree.
Next, defendant argues that the evidence was legally insufficient to support the conviction for kidnapping in the first degree under the first count and that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. The first count charged defendant with abducting the victim and restraining her for more than 12 hours with intent to inflict physical injury (see, Penal Law § 135.25[a] ). Defendant contends that the superficial wounds sustained by the victim were inflicted during a "domestic dispute" before the alleged abduction and, in any event, none constituted a "physical injury" defined as an "impairment of physical condition or substantial pain" (Penal Law § 10.00 ). Assuming, without deciding, that the victim did not suffer physical injury as that term is defined in the Penal Law, it was only incumbent upon the People to prove that defendant intended to inflict physical injury. In that regard, the record reveals that defendant repeatedly held the knife to the victim's neck and at one point indicated to Fonda that they would "all die as a family if need be". Again, viewing such circumstantial and direct evidence in the light most favorable to the People, we find that it could lead a rational trier of fact to conclude that the People established all the elements of kidnapping in the first degree beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, upon exercising our factual review power, we find that the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see, People v. Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495, 515 N.Y.S.2d 761, 508 N.E.2d 672, supra).
Defendant also contends that the People's failure to turn over certain photographs, as well as various comments made by the prosecutor during voir dire and summation, deprived him of a fair trial. The subject photographs, depicting the building where the crimes occurred, were taken just prior to the commencement of the trial on June 26, 1995 but were not used during the People's case. A second series of photographs taken June 26, 1995 during the trial and used by the People were provided to the defense. Upon learning that the earlier photographs had not been disclosed, Supreme Court immediately directed their turnover and sanctioned the People $250 (see, CPL 240.70 ). Defense counsel requested and was granted an adequate opportunity to examine the photographs before proceeding. We note that no request was made to reopen the cross-examination of any of the prosecution's witnesses. We further note that the defense failed to support its mistrial motion with a showing of prejudice arising from the prosecution's delay in providing the photographs. In our view, the court's action effectively...
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