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People v. Douglas

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 17, 1986
118 A.D.2d 722 (N.Y. App. Div. 1986)

Opinion

March 17, 1986

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Baker, J.).


Judgment affirmed.

Although the trial court's charge regarding circumstantial evidence did not include the phrase "to a moral certainty", the jury was sufficiently instructed as to the People's burden of proof regarding circumstantial evidence (see, People v. Sanchez, 61 N.Y.2d 1022, 1024). The omission of the words "reasonable doubt" in that same portion of the charge also does not require reversal. The charge must be read as a whole (see, People v Woods, 41 N.Y.2d 279, 283), and in so doing, we note the trial court's multiple references to the People's burden of proving the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Defense counsel provided meaningful representation (see, People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137); his cross-examination of the People's fingerprint expert was effective, but apparently unpersuasive, and his summation emphasized the possibility of misidentification of fingerprint evidence.

Finally, we decline to substitute our discretion for that of the sentencing court (see, People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80). Mangano, J.P., Thompson, Brown and Eiber, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Douglas

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 17, 1986
118 A.D.2d 722 (N.Y. App. Div. 1986)
Case details for

People v. Douglas

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. MICHAEL DOUGLAS…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Mar 17, 1986

Citations

118 A.D.2d 722 (N.Y. App. Div. 1986)

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