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People v. Leidinger

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Sep 2, 1993
196 A.D.2d 688 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)

Opinion

September 2, 1993

Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Alvin Schlesinger, J.).


Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the People and giving due deference to the jury's findings on credibility under the standards set forth in People v Bleakley ( 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495), defendant's guilt was proved beyond a reasonable doubt by overwhelming evidence.

We find no basis to disturb the findings of the hearing court that defendant voluntarily accompanied police to the precinct, and that the momentary entrance of a police officer into defendant's apartment, when defendant asked to get his coat, was with defendant's consent. As such, we reject any Payton claim. (Payton v New York, 445 U.S. 573.)

Generally, a defendant has no right to counsel for an investigatory lineup (People v Hernandez, 70 N.Y.2d 833, 835; People v Hawkins, 55 N.Y.2d 474, 486, cert denied 459 U.S. 846). The present lineup was not court ordered (cf., People v Thomas, 76 N.Y.2d 902), and defendant voluntarily waived his right to counsel during his interview and never requested counsel for the subsequent investigatory lineup (cf., People v Coates, 74 N.Y.2d 244). Although the prosecutor was contacted by defendant's attorney about an unrelated matter, the attorney never indicated that she would be representing defendant in this case, made no requests on defendant's behalf relative to the present investigation, and otherwise failed to announce her presence in this case (cf., People v LaClere, 76 N.Y.2d 670). Thus, defendant's right to counsel had never attached with respect to the lineup.

The People's inadvertent untimely disclosure of a DD-5 constituting Rosario material does not require reversal. Since the report was found by the prosecutor after the court had adjourned for the day following the conclusion of defense counsel's cross-examination of the relevant witness, the court's recommendation that counsel simply continue cross-examination using the report was the most appropriate remedy (cf., People v Diaz, 169 A.D.2d 672, lv denied 77 N.Y.2d 994). Although defendant moved for a mistrial, he never requested an adverse inference instruction, and thus this is not a case where the court failed to exercise its discretion to impose an appropriate remedy (cf., People v Wallace, 76 N.Y.2d 953). The contents of the report, which were not inconsistent with counsel's defense strategy, did not prejudice defendant (People v Martinez, 71 N.Y.2d 937, 940; cf., People v Thompson, 71 N.Y.2d 918; People v Goins, 73 N.Y.2d 989).

Defendant's remaining contentions are either unpreserved, without merit, or concern harmless error.

Concur — Murphy, P.J., Milonas, Ross and Rubin, JJ.


Summaries of

People v. Leidinger

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Sep 2, 1993
196 A.D.2d 688 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)
Case details for

People v. Leidinger

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. STEVEN LEIDINGER…

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

Date published: Sep 2, 1993

Citations

196 A.D.2d 688 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)
601 N.Y.S.2d 301

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