People v. Cruz

291 A.D.2d 1, 737 N.Y.S.2d 16, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 483
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided January 22, 2002·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Sullivan, J.

The People appeal from the dismissal of the indictment on the ground that the only grand jury evidence linking defendant to the charged crimes was the uncorroborated testimony of accomplices. The specific issue presented is whether one of those witnesses, a participant with defendant and others in an earlier unsuccessful robbery at a drug dealer’s apartment and ■ part of a larger conspiracy to commit such crimes, but who was not present during the charged robbery, burglary and homicide offenses committed at the same apartment the day after the unsuccessful robbery, was an accomplice within the meaning of CPL 60.22. We hold that because there was no evidence that this grand jury witness participated in any offense based on the facts or conduct underlying the charged crimes of robbery, burglary or murder, he was not an accomplice under CPL 60.22 [3]*3and his testimony therefore was not subject to the corroboration requirement.

The evidence before the grand jury was supplied primarily by three witnesses, Hector M., one of the victims of the charged robbery and burglary, Juan D., an admitted accomplice in the unsuccessful robbery/burglary as well as the charged crimes, and the witness in question, identified as Mr. V, who participated only in the unsuccessful robbery/burglary. Juan D. and Mr. V testified before the grand jury pursuant to waivers of immunity.1

The grand jury evidence established that on the night of February 12, 1997, defendant, Juan D., Mr. V and three others drove to a building on Riverside Drive with the intention of robbing the occupants of the first floor apartment. The plan called for Mr. V to stay in the car, while the others gained entry to the apartment by beeping the occupants and forcing their way inside when one of the occupants came out to answer the beep at a nearby pay telephone.2 The plan failed, however, when the participants did not reach the building until after Hector M. had already left the apartment. At that point, according to Mr. V’s testimony, the group “split up” and everyone went home.

A few hours later, the group, with the exception of Mr. V, returned to Riverside Drive to try again to gain entry to the apartment. This time, after one of the group beeped the occupants, Hector M. opened the door and defendant, Juan D. and two others, all armed with guns, forced Hector M. back into the apartment. The robbers bound Hector M. and Oliver M., another occupant, and searched the apartment. Finding only a small amount of cash, one of the participants grabbed Oliver M. stating, “I’m going to make him talk.” Shortly after, a shot rang out and the shooter told the others that he had shot Oliver M. “by mistake.” The participants fled.

Mr. V denied any knowledge that a second robbery attempt was planned and further testified that he was taken into custody by the warrant squad on an unrelated case on the morning of February 14, 1997. Shortly after he was released from custody that day, he was beeped by another confederate named Pablito, who had called a meeting to discuss the February 13th homicide. Later that day, Mr. V attended the meeting [4]*4with the other participants, including defendant, who, according to Mr. V, questioned “how David [could have] shot the guy,” given that the two victims had been tied up.3

The prosecutor instructed the grand jury that Juan D. was an accomplice as a matter of law whose testimony had to be corroborated by non-accomplice testimony tending to connect the defendants to the crime. In that regard, the prosecutor further instructed the grand jurors that they could consider whether Mr. Vs testimony concerning defendant’s admission during the post-crime meeting corroborated Juan D.’s testimony as to the defendant’s participation in the charged crimes. The grand jury returned an indictment against defendant and one of the other participants, charging them with three counts of felony murder, two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of first-degree burglary.

Defendant moved to dismiss on the ground that the indictment was based on the uncorroborated testimony of two accomplices, Juan D. and Mr. V. Specifically, defendant argued that Mr. V was an accomplice as a matter of law because he had participated in the planning and unsuccessful attempt to burglarize the apartment on February 12th, that such attempt was part of a larger conspiracy and that Mr. V, despite his absence from the completed crimes of February 13th, never renounced his participation in the conspiracy, as evidenced by his attendance at the post-crime meeting.

In opposition, the People argued that Mr. V was not an accomplice to the charged crimes under CPL 60.22 because he was not present during the February 13th incident and did nothing to aid in the commission of those crimes, was unaware that the others planned a second attempt and did not learn of the crimes until after their commission. At most, the People argued, Mr. V had joined a conspiracy to commit a robbery and burglary on February 12th.

In further support of the motion to dismiss, defendant offered a police DD-5 report wherein Juan D. told the interviewing investigator that after the failed burglary/robbery attempt on February 12th, “the group planned to do it the next day.” According to the same report, Juan D. told the investigator that on February 13th Mr. V didn’t show up. Juan D. didn’t know why. Defendant argued that Mr. V was not present during the February 13th incident only because he was in police custody.

[5]*5Defendant also offered the minutes of Mr. V’s guilty plea allocution in the United States District Court to the crime of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. During the allocution, Mr. V admitted that from January 1, 1995 to December 17, 1997, “I was a member of a gang that used to do robberies, and dealing with drugs and the kind of stuff like that.” He further stated that the robberies occurred in Manhattan and the Bronx and involved stealing drugs from drug dealers’ apartments and subsequently distributing the drugs. Defendant argued that in light of Mr. V’s admission under oath that he was a member of a particular conspiracy to rob drug dealers, of which the February 13th crimes were a part, Mr. V therefore was an accomplice whose testimony had to be corroborated.

In decisions, both oral and written, the motion court dismissed the indictment with leave to re-present. Based upon Mr. V’s admitted participation in the February 12th attempted robbery/burglary, his plea allocution in Federal court to conspiring to rob drug dealers during this time period and the aforementioned DD-5 report, the court concluded that “the robbery/homicide of February 13, 1997 was not a single isolated incident, but was part of a larger conspiracy, of which Mr. V was an accomplice” (emphasis in original). Accordingly, the court ruled that Mr. V was an accomplice under CPL 60.22 because he “may have been charged with a state crime of conspiracy, with respect to the underlying charge presented to the instant grand jury.”

On appeal, the People argue that Mr. V could only be Em accomplice under CPL 60.22 if he had personally participated in, and bore some criminal liability for, the conduct for which defendant is on trial. They contend that because he did not personally participate in the conduct constituting the February 13th crimes, nor participate in an offense based upon facts constituting those crimes, Mr. V was not an accomplice under CPL 60.22. We agree.

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People v. Cruz, 291 A.D.2d 1, 737 N.Y.S.2d 16, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 483 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2002).

291 A.D.2d 1 (People v. Cruz) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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