People v. Leisner

135 Misc. 2d 1081, 518 N.Y.S.2d 86, 1987 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2358
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJune 18, 1987
StatusPublished

This text of 135 Misc. 2d 1081 (People v. Leisner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Leisner, 135 Misc. 2d 1081, 518 N.Y.S.2d 86, 1987 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2358 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Harold J. Rothwax, J.

The defendants are before this court following rendition of a partial verdict on the indictment by a trial jury, which reached an impasse resulting in a mistrial as to the remaining counts. Of the original 51 counts contained in the indictment, 12 (Nos. 40-51) were severed by this court as involving only the defendant Leisner in a conspiracy exclusive of Marx and hence improperly joined (People v Ruiz, 130 Misc 2d 191, n, 193 [Sup Ct, NY County 1985]); and two were dismissed by this court for insufficiency of the evidence before the Grand Jury to establish the defendants’ complicity in burglary. In addition, prior to jury submission, the trial court dismissed two counts each of attempted grand larceny (Nos. 18, 32) and attempted coercion (Nos. 20, 34), apparently for legal insufficiency of the evidence at trial, and withdrew 18 counts, evenly divided between attempted grand larceny and coercion based upon the theory of damage to property (Penal Law former § 155.40 [2] [b]; § 135.65 [1]), apparently in order to simplify the jury’s tasks of deliberation by limiting the charges to extortion and/or coercion by means of instilling fear of physical injury (Penal Law former § 155.40 [2] [a]; § 135.65 [1]). Fifteen counts were submitted to the jury, resulting in a verdict of guilty as to the first (a charge of conspiracy in the fourth degree), and a verdict of not guilty as to the second and fourth (attempted grand larceny and attempted coercion) counts. The jury was unable to agree on a verdict as to the remaining 12 counts and a mistrial was declared, without the defendant’s consent, after five days’ deliberation. The defendants have appealed the conspiracy conviction and the appeal is pending. The remaining counts are here for retrial.

The defendants have filed omnibus motions seeking to dismiss these counts on grounds that reprosecution is barred by statutory and constitutional principles of double jeopardy, and [1083]*1083that the verdict was improvidently and improperly accepted. Leisner moves to dismiss four counts (Nos. 28, 30, 36, 38) as barred by the Statute of Limitations (CPL 30.10 [2] [b]), based upon testimony elicited at trial. These issues are resolved as follows. DOUBLE JEOPARDY

A genuinely deadlocked jury is the classic example of manifest necessity which justifies the declaration of a mistrial (e.g, Matter of Plummer v Rothwax, 63 NY2d 243, 249 [1984]). Nevertheless, the trial court has an obligation to ensure that the jury is truly deadlocked and that there is no reasonable likelihood of a verdict (supra, at 250-251). Here the trial lasted four weeks and included testimony of 26 witnesses. The jury deliberated, beginning on the evening of July 1, 1986 for several hours; for 12 hours on July 2; and 12 hours on July 3. During the deliberations on July 3, the jury declared that it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on all counts, but that a partial verdict (on two counts) had been reached. The trial court instructed the jury to continue deliberation in an effort to resolve the remaining counts (CPL 310.70 [1] [b] [ii]). After almost 12 more hours of deliberation on July 4, the jury requested to retire for the evening due to exhaustion and the request was honored. Defendants’ motion for a mistrial was denied. After three hours of deliberation on July 5, the jury submitted a note to the court indicating that a verdict had been reached on three counts but that there were "irreconcilable differences on the remaining charges”. The trial court accepted this partial verdict without again inquiring whether further deliberation would be useful (CPL 310.70 [1] [a]).

This court finds that the trial court’s exercise of discretion in granting a mistrial as to the unresolved counts was proper. It is not the purpose of the Double Jeopardy Clause (US Const 5th Amend) to bring about the "eventual exhaustion [of jurors] to break deadlocks at the risk of unjust verdicts” (Matter of Plummer v Rothwax, supra, at 250). "[Ijnasmuch as the jury seemed genuinely to have reached a stalemate, it was reasonable for the trial court to avoid any coaxing, inducing or pressuring the jury to return for further deliberations [which] * * * could have proven coercive and prejudicial and might have resulted in the denial of a fair verdict” (supra, at 252-253). The facts here are essentially identical to those in Rafferty v Owens (82 AD2d 582 [2d Dept 1981]), where the jury [1084]*1084declared itself deadlocked after two days of deliberation, the court nonetheless encouraged further effort, and the jury reached a partial verdict which the court accepted, without further comment, the following day. There the Appellate Division held that the court acted well within its discretion in accepting the partial verdict.

The defendants urge this court to review the trial record and to determine whether sufficient evidence was presented to establish the offenses as to which the jury was unable to agree, as a matter of law. The defendants posit that the evidence presented at trial was not legally sufficient to warrant conviction and thus that a retrial is barred by principles of double jeopardy. The court finds that this issue is not properly before it in the context of these proceedings.

In ruling on the defendants’ omnibus motion prior to trial, this court reviewed the Grand Jury minutes and found the evidence therein legally sufficient to sustain the coercion and extortion counts based on alternative theories of threatened injury to the property and/or persons of the tenants (see, People v Podolsky, 130 Misc 2d 987, 985 [Sup Ct, NY County 1985]). In reaching that determination, this court could not consider the quality of the evidence or weigh the credibility of the People’s witnesses, but was required to evaluate the evidence most favorably to the indictment as voted (People v Jennings, 69 NY2d 103, 114-115 [1986]). The defendants thus received the full benefit of all that the law requires (CPL 310.30, 210.20 [1] [b]).

The Trial Judge, at the conclusion of the People’s case, denied the defendants’ motion for a trial order of dismissal predicated on the alleged legal insufficiency of the evidence at trial to establish the counts ultimately submitted to the jury (CPL 290.10). The standard of review with regard to the trial evidence is the same as that applied to review evidence before the Grand Jury; that is, "competent evidence which, if accepted as true, would establish every element of an offense charged and the defendant’s commission thereof’ (CPL 70.10 [1]; compare, People v Sabella, 35 NY2d 158, 167 [1974], with People v Jennings, supra, at 115). In neither instance is the reviewing court permitted to evaluate the weight of the evidence or to independently assess the existence, vel non, of reasonable doubt upon an evaluation of the credibility of witnesses (see, People v Carter, 63 NY2d 530, 536-537 [1984]; Matter of Holtzman v Bonomo, 93 AD2d 574 [2d Dept 1983]).

[1085]*1085This review of the evidence pretrial (CPL 210.20 [1] [b]) and at the conclusion of the People’s case (CPL 290.10) suffices to ensure that the prosecution is not given a second opportunity to produce a prima facie case where they have once failed to do so (see, Burks v United States, 437 US 1 [1978]; Arizona v Washington, 434 US 497, 507 [1978]).

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Related

Arizona v. Washington
434 U.S. 497 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Burks v. United States
437 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1978)
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471 N.E.2d 429 (New York Court of Appeals, 1984)
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473 N.E.2d 6 (New York Court of Appeals, 1984)
People v. Prescott
486 N.E.2d 813 (New York Court of Appeals, 1985)
People v. Jennings
69 N.Y.2d 103 (New York Court of Appeals, 1986)
Rafferty v. Owens
82 A.D.2d 582 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1981)
People v. Tingue
91 A.D.2d 166 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1983)
Holtzman v. Bonomo
93 A.D.2d 574 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1983)
People v. Rivers
115 A.D.2d 570 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1985)
Agnew v. Rothwax
121 A.D.2d 906 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1986)
People v. Schwenk
92 Misc. 2d 331 (New York County Courts, 1977)
People v. Rosenberg
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People v. Ruiz
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
135 Misc. 2d 1081, 518 N.Y.S.2d 86, 1987 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-leisner-nysupct-1987.