People v. Letriz

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

People v. Letriz

299 A.D.2d 298, 749 N.Y.S.2d 725, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11509

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided November 26, 2002·Published

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bruce Allen, J.), rendered February 20, 2001, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of five years, unanimously affirmed.

The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490). There is no basis for disturbing the jury’s determinations concerning credibility. Defendant’s justification defense was clearly refuted by the credible evidence, including testimony that, during a verbal altercation, defendant approached the victim, who posed no threat to defendant, and struck him twice over the head with a baseball bat.

Defendant’s challenges to the court’s justification charge are [299]*299unpreserved and we decline to review them in the interest of justice. Were we to review these claims, we would find that the charge as a whole conveyed the correct legal standards and provided the jury with suitable guidance in applying the law to the evidence presented at trial (see People v Goetz, 68 NY2d 96; see also People v Mickens, 219 AD2d 543, lv denied 87 NY2d 904). Concur — Nardelli, J.P., Tom, Lerner, Marlow and Gonzalez, JJ.

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Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bruce Allen, J.), rendered February 20, 2001, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of five years, unanimously affirmed.

The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490). There is no basis for disturbing the jury’s determinations concerning credibility. Defendant’s justification defense was clearly refuted by the credible evidence, including testimony that, during a verbal altercation, defendant approached the victim, who posed no threat to defendant, and struck him twice over the head with a baseball bat.

Defendant’s challenges to the court’s justification charge are [299]*299unpreserved and we decline to review them in the interest of justice. Were we to review these claims, we would find that the charge as a whole conveyed the correct legal standards and provided the jury with suitable guidance in applying the law to the evidence presented at trial (see People v Goetz, 68 NY2d 96; see also People v Mickens, 219 AD2d 543, lv denied 87 NY2d 904). Concur — Nardelli, J.P., Tom, Lerner, Marlow and Gonzalez, JJ.

People v. Letriz, 299 A.D.2d 298, 749 N.Y.S.2d 725, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11509 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2002).

Pincite

299 A.D.2d 298 (People v. Letriz) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Opinion

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