People v. O'Neal

52 A.D.2d 630, 382 N.Y.S.2d 359, 1976 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 12269

This text of 52 A.D.2d 630 (People v. O'Neal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. O'Neal, 52 A.D.2d 630, 382 N.Y.S.2d 359, 1976 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 12269 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Suffolk County, rendered June 5, 1975, convicting him of conspiracy in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. Judgment reversed, on the facts, and indictment dismissed. At the close of the prosecution’s case, the trial court dismissed the counts of the indictment against defendant O’Neal which charged him with multiple counts of kidnapping in the second degree and of unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, and one count of endangering the welfare of an incompetent, leaving only the charge of conspiracy in the second degree. The testimony adduced does not establish defendant’s guilt of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court correctly charged the jury that, in order to convict for conspiracy in the second degree, there must be proof beyond a reasonable doubt of intent that conduct constituting a Class B or Class C felony be performed (here kidnapping in the second degree) and that the defendant agreed with one or more persons to engage in or to cause the performance of such conduct (see Penal Law, § 105.10). The circumstantial proof respecting defendant’s conduct was as equally consistent with innocence as with guilt, and in no event excluded his innocence to a moral certainty (see People v Brown, 37 AD2d 623; accord, People v Mackell, 47 AD2d 209, 213). Martuscello, Acting P. J., Rabin, Shapiro, Titone and Hawkins, JJ., concur.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Brown
37 A.D.2d 623 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1971)
People v. Mackell
47 A.D.2d 209 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 A.D.2d 630, 382 N.Y.S.2d 359, 1976 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 12269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-oneal-nyappdiv-1976.