Opinion
November 16, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Bronx County (Joseph Fisch, J.).
The victim testified before the grand jury that the defendant, after being refused a sip of the victim's beer, said he would "whack" the victim if the victim did not give him the beer. Moments later when the victim attempted to give the beer to the defendant, the defendant grabbed the victim by the head and slashed him in the throat with a box cutter. Hospital records submitted to the grand jury showed that the victim suffered a six to eight inch wound near the upper border of the thyroid cartilage close to the carotid artery requiring sixteen internal and sixteen external stitches to close.
We find that the above evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the People (People v Jennings, 69 N.Y.2d 103, 114), constituted prima facie proof of defendant's intent to kill the victim and was therefore legally sufficient to sustain the charge of attempted murder in the second degree. The location and size of the wound, along with the manner it was inflicted are strong evidence of defendant's intent to kill (see, People v Guzman, 180 A.D.2d 469, 471-472). Moreover, the defendant's statement that he would "whack" the victim was also evidence of that intent, given that the usual meaning attributed to the slang term is "to kill" (see, People v Burke, 128 A.D.2d 542, 544).
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Carro, Ross and Asch, JJ.