Opinion
07-05-2016
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Derrick MONROE, Defendant–Appellant.
Cardozo Appeals Clinic, New York (Stanley Neustadter of counsel), for appellant. Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (William Terrell, III of counsel), for respondent.
Cardozo Appeals Clinic, New York (Stanley Neustadter of counsel), for appellant.
Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (William Terrell, III of counsel), for respondent.
SWEENY, J.P., ACOSTA, FEINMAN, KAPNICK, KAHN, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Seth L. Marvin, J.), rendered August 20, 2013, as amended September 26, 2013, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of rape in the first degree and criminal sexual act in the first degree, and sentencing him, as a persistent felony offender, to concurrent terms of 22 years to life, unanimously affirmed.
The verdict 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] ). There is no basis for disturbing the jury's determinations regarding credibility, including its evaluation of alleged inconsistencies in testimony. The element of forcible compulsion was established by, among other things, the victim's testimony that defendant held her down during the attack (see e.g. People v. Simmons, 278 A.D.2d 29, 717 N.Y.S.2d 152 [1st Dept.2000] lv. denied 96 N.Y.2d 787, 725 N.Y.S.2d 652, 749 N.E.2d 221 [2001] ).
We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.