Opinion
February 14, 1995
Appeal from the County Court, Westchester County (LaCava, 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 was legally sufficient to disprove the defense of justification beyond a reasonable doubt. The overwhelming evidence establishes that the deceased was fleeing from the defendant and heading towards his friend's vehicle at the time he was shot. Therefore, the jury could have concluded that the defendant did not reasonably believe that the deceased was about to use deadly physical force against him and, consequently, that there was no justifiable basis for the defendant's resort to deadly physical force (see, People v. Griffin, 207 A.D.2d 844; People v. Lemaire, 187 A.D.2d 532, 533; People v. Mack, 178 A.D.2d 661, 662). Moreover, upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see, CPL 470.15).
The defendant's sentence was not excessive (see, People v Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80). Lawrence, J.P., Ritter, Friedmann and Krausman, JJ., concur.