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People v. DeGraw

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
May 27, 1988
140 A.D.2d 984 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988)

Opinion

May 27, 1988

Appeal from the Orleans County Court, Miles, J.

Present — Dillon, P.J., Green, Pine, Balio and Davis, JJ.


Judgment unanimously affirmed. Memorandum: Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree in the death of his fiancee, Kathy Dunham. The victim was found with 10 .22 caliber bullet wounds in her head, face, breast, ribs, shoulder and neck. We reject defendant's claims that proof of intent was legally insufficient to support the murder conviction (see, People v Milea, 112 A.D.2d 1011, lv denied 66 N.Y.2d 921) and that the court erred by refusing to charge manslaughter in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide as lesser included offenses (see, People v Hartley, 103 A.D.2d 935, affd 65 N.Y.2d 703).

Defendant's claim that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel also lacks merit. The record supports the view that a motion to suppress defendant's statements, if made, would have been unsuccessful, and that the prosecutor's remarks during summation were either a fair response to the defense summation or a fair commentary upon the evidence. Hence, any objections to comments on summation also would have been unsuccessful. Viewed in its totality, trial counsel's representation was meaningful (see, People v Satterfield, 66 N.Y.2d 796, 798-799; People v Torrence, 135 A.D.2d 1075).

The People satisfied their burden of proving geographic jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence (People v Moore, 46 N.Y.2d 1). The court received a handwritten map merely as a guide to the route the police followed to find the victim's body, and not for venue purposes. Any error in the admission of the printed map of Orleans County was harmless as there is no reasonable likelihood that a different result would have obtained had the exhibit been excluded.


Summaries of

People v. DeGraw

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
May 27, 1988
140 A.D.2d 984 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988)
Case details for

People v. DeGraw

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. WILLIAM DeGRAW, JR.…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department

Date published: May 27, 1988

Citations

140 A.D.2d 984 (N.Y. App. Div. 1988)

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