Opinion
2013-01-15
In re JAQUAN R., A Person Alleged to be a Juvenile Delinquent, Appellant. Presentment Agency.
Elisa Barnes, New York, for appellant. Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Leslie Cooper Mahaffey of counsel), for presentment agency.
Elisa Barnes, New York, for appellant. Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Leslie Cooper Mahaffey of counsel), for presentment agency.
Orders of disposition, Family Court, New York County (Susan R. Larabee, J.), entered on or about March 28, 2012, which adjudicated appellant a juvenile delinquent upon his admission that he committed an act that, if committed by an adult, would constitute the crime of robbery in the second degree, and upon a fact-finding determination that he committed acts that, if committed by an adult, would constitute the crimes of menacing in the third degree and criminal contempt in the second degree, and placed him with the Office of Children and Family Services for placement at Graham Windham for respective periods of 18 and 12 months, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The court's fact-finding determination 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 court's credibility determinations.
The dispositional orders were proper exercises of discretion. Placement at Graham Windham was the least restrictive dispositional alternative consistent with appellant's needs and the community's need for protection ( see Matter of Katherine W., 62 N.Y.2d 947, 479 N.Y.S.2d 190, 468 N.E.2d 28 [1984] ), given the serious and repeated nature of appellant's acts, which included witness-tampering, and appellant's history of benefitting from residential placement.