Opinion
February 10, 1992
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Feldman, J.).
Ordered, that the order is reversed, on the law, the defendant's motion to set aside the verdict is denied, the verdict is reinstated, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Kings County, for further proceedings consistent herewith.
The Supreme Court granted the defendant's motion to set aside the verdict (CPL 330.30) on the ground that "the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution was not legally sufficient to establish defendant's guilt". We disagree. Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the People, we find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (see generally, People v. Mattiace, 77 N.Y.2d 269; People v. Ford, 66 N.Y.2d 428; People v. Skinner, 162 A.D.2d 480; People v. Mann, 125 A.D.2d 711).
At this juncture, we need not decide whether the verdict was supported by the weight of the evidence, as well as by legally sufficient evidence. Such an inquiry is proper, in criminal cases, only on an appeal taken to this court by a defendant after a judgment of conviction (CPL 470.15; People v Bleakley, 69 N.Y.2d 490). If the Supreme Court's order was based upon the exercise of factual review powers which are solely within the province of the Appellate Division, the proper remedy is nonetheless to reverse and to reinstate the verdict (see, People v. Colon, 65 N.Y.2d 888; People v. Carter, 63 N.Y.2d 530; People v. Brown, 141 A.D.2d 657). Bracken, J.P., Harwood, Lawrence and O'Brien, JJ., concur.