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People v. Harris

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 22, 1993
190 A.D.2d 864 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)

Opinion

February 22, 1993

Appeal from the County Court, Westchester County (Silverman, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The Sandoval ruling, which would have allowed the prosecutor to ask the defendant if he had previously been convicted of any crimes and whether the crimes were misdemeanors or felonies, without eliciting the underlying facts or specifying the convictions, was favorable to the defendant (see, People v Jay, 187 A.D.2d 454; People v Edwards, 186 A.D.2d 218; People v Johnson, 137 A.D.2d 719, 720). The defendant's prior convictions, many of which were theft-related, were highly relevant on the issue of credibility, and the hearing court's ruling assured that the jury would not use the information as evidence of his propensity to commit the crimes for which he was charged (see, People v Johnson, supra, at 720).

Viewing the evidence adduced at the trial in the light most favorable to the People (see, People v Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620), we find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, resolution of issues of credibility, as well as the weight to be accorded to the evidence presented, are primarily questions to be determined by the triers of fact, who saw and heard the witnesses (see, People v Gaimari, 176 N.Y. 84, 94). Their determination should be accorded great weight on appeal and should not be disturbed unless clearly unsupported by the record (see, People v Garafolo, 44 A.D.2d 86, 88). Upon the exercise of our factual review power, we find that the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see, CPL 470.15).

We have reviewed the defendant's remaining contentions and find that they are without merit or do not warrant reversal. Thompson, J.P., Rosenblatt, Lawrence and Santucci, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Harris

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 22, 1993
190 A.D.2d 864 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)
Case details for

People v. Harris

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. BLAINE C. HARRIS…

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

Date published: Feb 22, 1993

Citations

190 A.D.2d 864 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)
593 N.Y.S.2d 872

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