Opinion
2012-12-20
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Cesar ROMERO, Defendant–Appellant.
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York (Douglas S. Zolkind of counsel), and Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Alan Axelrod of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Beth Fisch Cohen of counsel), and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, New York (James L. Kerwin of counsel), for respondent.
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York (Douglas S. Zolkind of counsel), and Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Alan Axelrod of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Beth Fisch Cohen of counsel), and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, New York (James L. Kerwin of counsel), for respondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Daniel Conviser, J.), rendered October 5, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of burglary in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of 11 years, unanimously affirmed.
The verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence ( see People v. Danielson, 9 N.Y.3d 342, 348–349, 849 N.Y.S.2d 480, 880 N.E.2d 1 [2007] ). Defendant's criminal intent could be readily inferred from the surrounding circumstances ( see generally People v. Mackey, 49 N.Y.2d 274, 278–79, 425 N.Y.S.2d 288, 401 N.E.2d 398 [1980] ). Defendant's *510presence in a walk-in closet inside an apartment in the early morning hours, with his hands above his head near a jewelry box, provided ample evidence that defendant entered the apartment with intent to commit a crime therein. The jury properly rejected the implausible explanation that defendant offered for his actions ( see e. g. People v. Jenkins, 213 A.D.2d 279, 624 N.Y.S.2d 141 [1st Dept. 1995],lv. denied 85 N.Y.2d 974, 629 N.Y.S.2d 734, 653 N.E.2d 630 [1995] ).