People v. Vandenburg

• Decision Date: 10 December 2020
• Docket Number: 110015
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Joseph M. VANDENBURG, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

189 A.D.3d 1772

136 N.Y.S.3d 549

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Joseph M. VANDENBURG, Appellant.

110015

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

Calendar Date: October 13, 2020

Decided and Entered: December 10, 2020

Mitchell Kessler, Cohoes, for appellant.

Mary Pat Donnelly, District Attorney, Troy (George J. Hoffman Jr. of counsel), for respondent.

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

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Pritzker, J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Rensselaer County (Young, J.), rendered July 21, 2017, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.

Defendant was charged by indictment with murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree stemming from allegations that he stabbed and killed the victim while he was walking his dog shortly after 10:00 p.m. in the Town of North Greenbush, Rensselaer County. Following a hearing whereby defendant was found competent to stand trial, a jury trial ensued and defendant was convicted as charged. Defendant was sentenced to 25 years to life for his conviction of murder in the second degree and to a lesser concurrent prison term for his conviction of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. Defendant appeals. We affirm.

Defendant argues that the jury verdict is not supported by legally sufficient evidence and is against the weight of the evidence. "When considering a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the People and evaluate whether there is any valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences which could lead a rational person to the conclusion reached by the jury on the basis of the evidence at trial and as a matter of law satisfy the proof and burden requirements for every element of the crime charged" ( People v. Hernandez, 180 A.D.3d 1234, 1235, 116 N.Y.S.3d 799 [2020] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 993, 125 N.Y.S.3d 630, 149 N.E.3d 391 [2020] ; see People v. Nunes, 168 A.D.3d 1187, 1187–1188, 90 N.Y.S.3d 694 [2019], lv denied 33 N.Y.3d 979, 101 N.Y.S.3d 234, 124 N.E.3d 723 [2019] ). "When undertaking a weight of the evidence review, we must first determine whether, based on all the credible evidence, a different finding would not have been unreasonable and[, if not,] then 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. When conducting this review, we consider the evidence in a neutral light and defer to the jury's credibility assessments" ( People v. Conway, 179 A.D.3d 1218, 1218, 116 N.Y.S.3d 118 [2020] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 941, 124 N.Y.S.3d 288, 147 N.E.3d 558 [2020] ; see People v. Lee, 183 A.D.3d 1183, 1187–1188, 124 N.Y.S.3d 479 [2020], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 1114, 133 N.Y.S.3d 531, 158 N.E.3d 548 [Oct. 28, 2020] ).

As relevant here, to obtain a conviction for murder in the second degree, the People bear the burden of proving that, "[w]ith intent to cause the death of another person, [the defendant] causes the death of such person" ( Penal Law § 125.25[1] ). "For a conviction of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, the People have to prove that the defendant was previously convicted of a crime and that he or she has committed the offense of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree (see Penal Law § 265.02[1] ), which requires, as relevant here, proof that the defendant knowingly ‘possesse[d] any dagger, dangerous knife, ... dangerous or deadly instrument or weapon with intent to use the same unlawfully against another’ " ( People v. Harris, 186 A.D.3d 907, 908–909, 127 N.Y.S.3d 655 [2020], quoting Penal Law § 265.01[2] ).

The victim's wife testified that, at approximately 10:00 p.m. on December 17, 2015, the victim left their residence to walk their dog and that, 10 to 15 minutes later, the dog returned without the victim. Unable to reach the victim on his mobile phone, the wife drove around the neighborhood and discovered the victim lying motionless on the front lawn of a residence located at the corner of Marion Avenue and Powell Street.¹ The wife testified that she was too shaken up to operate her mobile phone so she stopped a bicyclist who was riding by and asked him to call 911. Shortly thereafter, a local firefighter and two EMTs arrived at the scene. The firefighter testified that he observed a large hunting knife on the ground about three to four feet away from the victim's body. Testimony from one of the EMTs revealed that, after assessing the victim, resuscitation efforts were ceased as the victim's vital signs were "incompatible with life." Michael Sikirica, a forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy of the victim, testified that the victim sustained 22 stab wounds to his head, neck, upper chest and extremities, as well as superficial injuries to his face

.

Sikirica also testified that some of the victim's neck and extremity wounds were consistent with the large hunting knife recovered from the scene on the night of the incident, but that the knife did not account for the deeper, fatal wound to the victim's chest. Ultimately, Sikirica opined that the cause of death was multiple stab wounds and the manner of death was homicide.

The People introduced video surveillance from a local liquor store where defendant purchased a bottle of vodka at approximately 8:45 p.m. on the night of the murder. An employee of the liquor store testified that defendant was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up, and was not bleeding at all. The People also introduced testimony of an employee of a local convenience store, as well as video surveillance from the store, that established that defendant, donning dark facial hair, a gray hooded sweatshirt with the hood up and a red and black backpack, purchased a yellow Gatorade at 8:54 p.m. on the night of the murder. Testimony from multiple members of law enforcement established that a lemon-lime Gatorade bottle that appeared to have blood on it was found in the driveway of a home in the vicinity of the victim's body. Several witnesses testified to events that occurred immediately prior to and following the victim's murder, including the owner of the residence located on the corner of Marion Avenue and Powell Street, who testified that, shortly after 10:00 p.m., she heard male voices in front of her house. A pizza delivery driver testified that, just after 10:00 p.m., she turned onto Marion Avenue and observed a white male, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with the hood up and a backpack walking in the direction of Powell Street. Moments later, she saw the victim, whom she knew, walking his dog on Marion Avenue.

Raymond McCabe, the bicyclist that the wife stopped for assistance, testified that his shift at a local restaurant ended at 10:00 p.m. and that he left work and proceeded to ride his bicycle two miles to his home. On his way home, he observed a male with facial hair, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall and possibly wearing a backpack, walking down the street away from Marion Avenue. As McCabe rode towards Marion Avenue and Powell Street, he saw the wife screaming for help and she asked him to call 911. While he called 911, he saw the victim's body lying face down on the ground. A local resident, who was the passenger in a car in the vicinity of the murder at approximately 10:45 p.m., testified that she observed an overweight male with dark facial hair – approximately 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet tall and wearing very dark clothing and a red and black backpack – running down a hill towards the street. When the male got to the street and saw the car, he slowed down to a walking pace. The local resident testified that, at the time, she did not recognize who the person was, but that the person "looked more than familiar" to her. She also testified that she has known defendant and his family for many years as they live close to one another.

Defendant's mother, with whom defendant lived, testified that on the day of the murder, she arrived home in the evening after work and saw defendant briefly while he fixed himself dinner. Defendant then returned to his bedroom in the basement of the house. The next morning, at approximately 8:00 a.m., the mother awoke to find her vehicle missing from the driveway. The mother was able to determine that her vehicle was located at Crossgates Mall in Albany County and, being unable to reach or locate defendant, the mother called his parole officer. Defendant's parole officer testified that, after receiving the mother's call, he began to search for defendant and ultimately pushed his way through defendant's locked bedroom door. Therein, the mother and defendant's parole officer observed handwriting on defendant's bedroom wall that read "Die, he [or I] said so. Canada next." A blood-covered sweatshirt was affixed to defendant's bedroom wall by a knife. Defendant's parole officer testified that he had been in defendant's room a week prior and that neither the handwriting nor the sweatshirt and knife was there at that time. Testimony established that defendant was arrested while walking less than a quarter of a mile from Crossgates Mall. An investigator with the State Police testified that when defendant was taken into custody, the investigator observed injuries on defendant's right pinky finger, left arm, left cheek and over defendant's left eye, as well as scratches on the upper part of defendant's right cheek, neck, left arm and right wrist.

Carrie McGinnis, a forensic scientist and DNA analyst with the State Police Forensic Investigation Center, testified that defendant's DNA profile matched the DNA...