People v. Crutchfield

111 A.D.2d 346, 489 N.Y.S.2d 327, 1985 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 51451
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided May 20, 1985·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

— Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Starkey, J.), rendered November 3, 1982, convicting him of murder in the second degree (two counts), attempted murder in the second degree, manslaughter in the second degree (two counts), attempted robbery in the first degree (two counts), criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (two counts), and assault in the second degree upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Judgment modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, by reversing the conviction for assault in the second degree and vacating the sentence imposed thereon. As so modified, judgment affirmed, and new trial ordered as to the seventh count of the indictment charging defendant with assault in the second degree.

It is reversible error to submit to the jury a theory of liability not contained in the indictment (People v Duncan, 46 NY2d 74, 79; People v Kaminski, 58 NY2d 886, 887). Although the Trial Judge read to the jury the count of the indictment charging defendant with assault in the second degree, pursuant to a felony assault theory (Penal Law § 120.05 [6]), he thereafter instructed the jury on the elements of assault in the third degree (Penal Law § 120.00 [1]). Since we cannot be confident that the jury found defendant guilty of the crime of which he was charged, the assault conviction is hereby reversed, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice (People v Melendez, 96 AD2d 517).

Defendant raises several other issues on appeal; the following warrant a brief discussion.

We reject defendant’s contention that the police lacked reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle in which he was an occupant and lacked probable cause to arrest him. The arresting officer testified that at approximately 1:50 a.m., on April 23, 1981, he and his partner were parked at the corner of Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street when he heard “banging noises”. Shortly thereafter, he observed from a block away one tall and one short male running across Mermaid Avenue and south on 25th Street, towards Surf Avenue. Moments later, the officer drove the patrol car around the corner onto West 25th Street, towards Surf Avenue, and observed a tall man standing beside a parked Lincoln Continental automobile. The officer pulled alongside the Lincoln and saw a woman seated in the front passenger seat. After the tall man conversed with the woman, he walked into a building. There were no other people on that [347] block. The officer then backed the patrol car down the block returning to the corner of Mermaid Avenue and 25th Street where he was met by a group of people running out of a social club located on Mermaid Avenue, close to that corner. The people informed the officers that two men had shot three people in the club. While the officer was being informed of the shooting, the Lincoln pulled away from the curb and proceeded, in an erratic manner, south on 25th Street towards Surf Avenue. At this point, the officer possessed the reasonable suspicion required to stop the Lincoln and to order its occupants, defendant and a female driver, Janice Campbell, out of the vehicle for questioning (see, People v Rosario, 94 AD2d 329; People v Crosby, 91 AD2d 20, lv denied 59 NY2d 765; People v Brooks, 88 AD2d 451; People v Finlayson, 76 AD2d 670, lv denied 51 NY2d 1011, cert denied 450 US 931). The officer’s drawing of his gun when he ordered defendant and his female companion out of the car did not transform the confrontation into an arrest, as this was a reasonable self-protective measure under the circumstances (see, People v Chestnut, 51 NY2d 14, 21, cert denied 449 US 1018; People v Rosario, supra; People v Brooks, supra; People v Livigni, 88 AD2d 386, affd 58 NY2d 894; People v Finlayson, supra). Upon observing two guns in plain view in front of the passenger seat of the car, the officer had probable cause to arrest defendant (see, People v John BB., 56 NY2d 482, cert denied 459 US 1010; People v Pacifico, 95 AD2d 215; People v Livigni, supra).

Defendant next contends that the identification of him by an eyewitness, who had been injured in the shooting, should have been suppressed. Defendant had been wounded during the incident and was taken to a hospital by the police. The identification of defendant occurred when he was lying next to the eyewitness in a hospital emergency room. Said identification was admissible because it was spontaneous and resulted from an accidental, rather than a police-arranged, identification procedure (People v Logan, 25 NY2d 184, cert denied 396 US 1020; People v Graham, 67 AD2d 172, 176; People v Gonzalez, 61 AD2d 666, affd 46 NY2d 1011, writ granted sub nom. Gonzalez v Hammock, 477 F Supp 730, revd 639 F2d 844, cert denied 449 US 1088; Lindsay v Henderson, 499 F Supp 667, 670).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

People v. Crutchfield, 111 A.D.2d 346, 489 N.Y.S.2d 327, 1985 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 51451 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1985).

111 A.D.2d 346 (People v. Crutchfield) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

People v. Rose
63 A.D.3d 1184 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2009)
People v. Crutchfield
5 A.D.3d 501 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2004)
People v. McFadden
194 A.D.2d 566 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1993)
State v. Hughes
610 A.2d 559 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1992)
People v. Merrion
177 A.D.2d 719 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1991)
People v. Udzinski
146 A.D.2d 245 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1989)
People v. Hardy
146 A.D.2d 800 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1989)
People v. Perry
133 A.D.2d 380 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1987)
People v. Rosario
136 Misc. 2d 445 (Criminal Court of the City of New York, 1987)
People v. Casanova
124 A.D.2d 813 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1986)
People v. Taylor
123 A.D.2d 893 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1986)
People v. Cornwall
121 A.D.2d 735 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1986)