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People v. Martin

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 25, 1985
108 A.D.2d 928 (N.Y. App. Div. 1985)

Opinion

February 25, 1985

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Potoker, J.).


Judgment affirmed.

Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence presented by the People by attacking the credibility of Harold McKnight, an eyewitness to the shooting for which defendant was ultimately convicted. It is axiomatic that issues of credibility are primarily for the jury, which has the "advantage of seeing and hearing the witnesses" ( People v Kidd, 76 A.D.2d 665, 666, lv dismissed 51 N.Y.2d 882; People v Gruttola, 43 N.Y.2d 116, 122; People v Rosenfeld, 93 A.D.2d 872). Mr. McKnight's background was presented to the jury for their consideration. Moreover, the court properly charged the jury on the standards by which credibility may be assessed. The jury chose to credit this witness' testimony ( see, People v Bigelow, 106 A.D.2d 448; People v Siu Wah Tse, 91 A.D.2d 350, 352).

Mr. McKnight, with great specificity, described the events which had transpired on the day in question. Detailed portions of his testimony were corroborated by and were consistent with the testimony of another eyewitness, three detectives, a ballistics expert, and a medical examiner. Thus, the evidence was "sufficient in quantity and quality to support the [jury's] verdict" ( People v Malizia, 62 N.Y.2d 755, 757). The conclusion that defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes with which he was charged is "consistent with and flow[s] naturally from the proven facts" ( People v Kennedy, 47 N.Y.2d 196, 202).

We have reviewed defendant's other contentions and find them to be without merit. Titone, J.P., O'Connor, Rubin and Lawrence, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Martin

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 25, 1985
108 A.D.2d 928 (N.Y. App. Div. 1985)
Case details for

People v. Martin

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. RICKY MARTIN, Appellant

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

Date published: Feb 25, 1985

Citations

108 A.D.2d 928 (N.Y. App. Div. 1985)

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