Opinion
5 3806/10
01-26-2016
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Brian HUNT, Defendant–Appellant.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Jonathan Garelick of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Sheryl Feldman of counsel), for respondent.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Jonathan Garelick of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Sheryl Feldman of counsel), for respondent.
Opinion
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Juan M. Merchan, J.), rendered April 27, 2011, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 2 ½ years, unanimously affirmed.
The verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v. Danielson, 9 N.Y.3d 342, 348, 849 N.Y.S.2d 480, 880 N.E.2d 1 2007 ). There is no reason to disturb the jury's credibility determinations. The evidence established that at least two men, one of whom was defendant, attacked the victim. The evidence also supports findings that defendant was the assailant who stomped on the fallen victim's eye, causing multiple fractures to his eye socket by means of defendant's sneaker, which qualified as a dangerous instrument under the circumstances (see People v. Carter, 53 N.Y.2d 113, 116, 440 N.Y.S.2d 607, 423 N.E.2d 30 1981; People v. Lev, 33 A.D.3d 362, 822 N.Y.S.2d 73 1st Dept.2006 ). The jury's factually mixed verdict does not undermine the sufficiency of the evidence (see People v. Abraham, 22 N.Y.3d 140, 146–147, 978 N.Y.S.2d 723, 1 N.E.3d 797 2013 ), and while we may consider it in performing our weight of the evidence review (see People v. Rayam, 94 N.Y.2d 557, 563 n., 708 N.Y.S.2d 37, 729 N.E.2d 694 2000 ), we find it “imprudent to speculate concerning the factual determinations that underlay the verdict” (People v. Horne, 97 N.Y.2d 404, 413, 740 N.Y.S.2d 675, 767 N.E.2d 132 2002; see also People v. Hemmings, 2 N.Y.3d 1, 5 n., 776 N.Y.S.2d 201, 808 N.E.2d 336 2004 ).