People v. Batista

303 A.D.2d 293, 755 N.Y.S.2d 840, 2003 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3069

Opinion

—Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (David Stadtmauer, J.), rendered February 2, 1999, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 10 to 20 years, unanimously modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, to the extent of reducing the sentence to a term of 8 to 16 years, and otherwise affirmed.

Defendant’s suppression motion was properly denied. There is no basis for disturbing the court’s credibility determinations, which are supported by the record (see People v Prochilo, 41 NY2d 759, 761 [1977]). The totality of the circumstances supports the hearing court’s finding that defendant’s videotaped statements were voluntarily made (see Arizona v Fulminante, 499 US 279, 285-288 [1991]; People v Anderson, 42 NY2d 35, 38-39 [1977]). The delay in defendant’s arraignment was not excessive and did not render the confession involuntary (see People v Ramos, 99 NY2d 27, 35 [2002]).

The court’s charge on the jury’s role in assessing the voluntariness of defendant’s statements conveyed the proper standards when read as a whole and in the context of the factual issues raised at trial (see People v Fields, 87 NY2d 821 [1995]).

We find the sentence excessive to the extent indicated.

We have considered and rejected defendant’s remaining claims. Concur — Buckley, P.J., Rosenberger, Lerner, Friedman and Gonzalez, JJ.