Opinion
July 28, 1997
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Gerges, J.).
Ordered that the judgment and amended judgment are affirmed.
The defendant contends that the police lacked probable cause to arrest him, arguing that the arresting officer's testimony that he observed a gun on the defendant's person was incredible as a matter of law. However, "[i]t is well settled that the factual findings and credibility determinations of the hearing court are entitled to great deference on appeal and will not be disturbed unless clearly unsupported by the record" (People v Smith, 238 A.D.2d 451; see, People v. Prochilo, 41 N.Y.2d 759), which is not the case here. Moreover, the statement the defendant made during a telephone conversation at the police precinct house, which was made after the defendant invoked his right to counsel and which was overheard by a detective, was properly admitted into evidence at trial as the statement was not made in response to any police questioning.
There was no suggestion that the lineup viewed by the victim of the robbery for which the defendant was convicted was suggestive. It is well settled that the fillers in a lineup need not be identical in physical characteristics to the defendant — the fillers need only be reasonably similar to the defendant in appearance (see, People v. Chipp, 75 N.Y.2d 327, cert denied 498 U.S. 833; People v. Velez, 222 A.D.2d 625). The admissibility of the other statement which the defendant made to the police, which was ruled admissible but was not introduced at this trial, and the admissibility of any other person's identification resulting from the lineups conducted by police have not been considered by this Court on appeal, as these issues have no bearing on this judgment of conviction.
The imposition of consecutive sentences for the judgment involving the robbery conviction and the amended judgment involving the violation of probation was not excessive (see, People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80).
The defendant's remaining contentions are either unpreserved for appellate review or without merit.
O'Brien, J. P., Joy, Goldstein and Luciano, JJ., concur.