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People v. Sage

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
May 31, 1994
204 A.D.2d 746 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)

Opinion

May 31, 1994

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Mullen, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

Viewing the evidence, in the light most favorable to the prosecution (see, People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620), we find that it is legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the verdict of guilt is not against the weight of the evidence (CPL 470.15).

Contrary to the defendant's contention, the hearing court properly denied suppression of the defendant's oral and written statements. The record clearly indicates that the defendant's statements were voluntary and not the product of coercive tactics (see, People v. Perkins, 177 A.D.2d 720; People v. Harrington, 163 A.D.2d 327).

The defendant contends that the hearing court erred in sustaining the search warrant and in denying his motion to suppress the gun that was found in his vehicle. The defendant contends that the seizure of this undesignated item was beyond the scope of the warrant and that it was unauthorized. We disagree. Although the gun was not listed on the warrant, its seizure was proper since it was in "plain view" (see, People v Riddick, 143 A.D.2d 1060).

It was proper for the trial court to permit the People to amend two counts of the indictment. Counts six and eight of the original indictment both charged the defendant with committing the crime of assault in the first degree "by means of a dangerous instrument, namely, a handgun." Prior to the summations, the People requested that the indictment be amended to state that the injury was caused "by means of a deadly weapon" (Penal Law § 120.10). We find that the amendment did not change the theory of the prosecution. The prosecution's theory in the original and amended indictment was the same, i.e., that the defendant had used a gun to assault the victims, and a gun is, by definition, a deadly weapon (see, People v. Hood, 194 A.D.2d 556; People v Kelly, 178 A.D.2d 491; People v. Reed, 168 A.D.2d 645; People v Felton, 141 A.D.2d 839). Moreover, the defendant has not shown that he was prejudiced in any way by the amendment (see, People v. Johnson, 163 A.D.2d 613).

A sworn juror's acquaintance with one of the police-officer witnesses did not deny the defendant a fair trial. The juror stated unequivocally and repeatedly that he would not give greater weight to the testimony of the police officers than that of the other witnesses. Accordingly, the court's decision not to discharge the juror was not an improvident exercise of discretion (see, People v. Hill, 167 A.D.2d 418; People v. Butts, 140 A.D.2d 739; People v. Colon, 127 A.D.2d 678, affd 71 N.Y.2d 410, cert denied 487 U.S. 1239).

The defendant contends that the merger doctrine precludes his conviction for kidnapping because any restraint that he imposed upon the complainant was wholly incidental to and inseparable from the substantive crimes of attempted murder and assault. Since the defendant failed to assert this contention before the trial court, it is not preserved for our review (see, People v Grega, 72 N.Y.2d 489, 497; People v. Salimi, 159 A.D.2d 658). In any event, the defendant's contention is without merit. It appears from the record that the defendant kidnapped the complainant in order to kill her. The defendant's statements to the police reveal that he was afraid of being identified by the complainant and of going to jail. "Since the kidnapping could be viewed as a kidnapping with intent to accomplish murder, the merger doctrine is simply unavailable" (People v. Kalyon, 142 A.D.2d 650, 651; see also, People v. Miles, 23 N.Y.2d 527, 539, cert denied 395 U.S. 948; People v. Carmichael, 155 A.D.2d 983, 984; People v. Pellot, 105 A.D.2d 223, 226).

The sentence that was imposed is appropriate under the circumstances of this case (see, People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80).

We have considered the defendant's remaining contentions, including those contained in his supplemental pro se brief, and find them to be either unpreserved for appellate review or without merit. Bracken, J.P., Miller, Joy and Altman, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Sage

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
May 31, 1994
204 A.D.2d 746 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)
Case details for

People v. Sage

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. LESLIE E. SAGE…

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

Date published: May 31, 1994

Citations

204 A.D.2d 746 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)
612 N.Y.S.2d 648

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