Opinion
13900 Ind. No. 5756/12 Case No. 2014-1187
05-25-2021
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Alo L. ABLAKATOV, Defendant–Appellant.
Caprice R. Jenerson, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Margaret E. Knight of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Sheila L. Bautista of counsel), for respondent.
Caprice R. Jenerson, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Margaret E. Knight of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Sheila L. Bautista of counsel), for respondent.
Renwick, J.P., Webber, Gonza´lez, Scarpulla, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Maxwell Wiley, J.), rendered July 31, 2013, as amended December 6, 2017 and March 7, 2018, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of two counts of robbery in the second degree, and sentencing him to concurrent terms of five years, 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] ). Defendant's arguments concerning the physical injury element of one of his robbery convictions are unavailing (see generally People v. Chiddick, 8 N.Y.3d 445, 447, 834 N.Y.S.2d 710, 866 N.E.2d 1039 [2007] ). There is no basis for disturbing the jury's credibility determinations regarding the victim's account of his painful injuries to his rib area and hand (see People v. Guidice, 83 N.Y.2d 630, 636, 612 N.Y.S.2d 350, 634 N.E.2d 951 [1994] ). Furthermore, the victim's testimony was corroborated by other evidence.
Defendant preserved a Sandoval claim only to the extent that the court's ruling differed from the compromise ruling expressly requested by defense counsel. The court's Sandoval ruling balanced the appropriate factors and was a provident exercise of discretion (see People v. Hayes, 97 N.Y.2d 203, 738 N.Y.S.2d 663, 764 N.E.2d 963 [2002] ; People v. Walker, 83 N.Y.2d 455, 458–459, 611 N.Y.S.2d 118, 633 N.E.2d 472 [1994] ). We decline to review the unpreserved portion of defendant's Sandoval claim in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we find it unavailing. The court was never alerted to the fact that defendant's felony conviction was pending on appeal. In any event, there was no risk that the ruling would violate defendant's right against self-incrimination (see People v. Cantave, 21 N.Y.3d 374, 381, 971 N.Y.S.2d 237, 993 N.E.2d 1257 [2013] ), because the court precluded cross-examination about the underlying facts and only permitted the prosecutor to ask if defendant had been convicted of a felony.