People v. Higdon

214 A.D.2d 488, 625 N.Y.S.2d 224, 1995 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4558

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: April 25, 1995
• Status: Published

Opinion

—Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Frank Diaz, J.), rendered November 8, 1993, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of manslaughter in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him to consecutive terms of 5 to 15 years and 1 to 3 years, respectively, unanimously affirmed.

The imposition of consecutive sentences was not violative of Penal Law § 70.25 (2), defendant having pleaded to two distinct and separate crimes, involving different acts, that do not contain common material elements (People v Brown, 80 NY2d 361, 363-364). Nor was the sentence excessive, in view of the coldblooded slaying of an innocent bystander. Concur—Sullivan, J. P., Rosenberger, Wallach, Kupferman and Tom, JJ.