People v. Muller

249 A.D.2d 331, 670 N.Y.S.2d 349, 1998 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3603

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: April 6, 1998
• Status: Published

Opinion

—Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (J. Goldberg, J.), rendered June 27, 1994, convicting him of murder in the second degree and burglary in the first degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution (see, People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620), we find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the verdict of guilt was not against the weight of the evidence (see, CPL 470.15 [5]).

Contrary to the defendant’s contention, the trial court properly refused to charge the jury as to manslaughter in the second degree, as there was no reasonable view of the evidence which would support a finding that the defendant committed the lesser offense, but did not commit the greater (see, CPL 300.50 [1]; People v Jackson, 224 AD2d 547).

Further, evidence of his prior uncharged crime was properly admitted to prove his identity (see, People v Satiro, 72 NY2d 821, 822; People v Alvino, 71 NY2d 233, 241-242; People v Allweiss, 48 NY2d 40, 46-47), and was likewise admissible as it was relevant to his motive for the burglary (see, People v Chase, 85 NY2d 493, 502; People v Sutton, 220 AD2d 705; People v Hamid, 209 AD2d 716).

The defendant’s remaining contentions are either unpreserved for appellate review (see, CPL 470.05 [2]) or without merit. Ritter, J. P., Thompson, Goldstein and McGinity, JJ., concur.