Summary
affirming § 120.20 conviction where defendant started fire in apartment building by splashing rubbing alcohol and igniting it
Summary of this case from Gayle v. SessionsOpinion
December 21, 1987
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Goldman, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People (see, Jackson v Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, reh denied 444 U.S. 890; People v Malizia, 62 N.Y.2d 755, cert denied 469 U.S. 932), it is legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt of the crime charged. Moreover, upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the evidence established the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (CPL 470.15). The evidence adduced at trial established that the defendant started a fire in the apartment she shared with a friend by splashing rubbing alcohol about and then igniting it, thereby creating a substantial risk of serious injury to the occupants of all 24 apartments contained in the building. The total disregard by the defendant of the possibility that someone might be seriously injured when she started a fire in a four-story apartment building constituted such a gross deviation of the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe as to consititute "reckless endangerment" within the meaning of Penal Law § 120.20 (see, e.g., Matter of Louis A., 54 A.D.2d 712).
We have considered the defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit. Mangano, J.P., Lawrence, Weinstein and Rubin, JJ., concur.