Opinion
July 22, 1985
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Starkey, J.).
Judgment affirmed.
The evidence of defendant's guilt adduced at trial, which included the testimony of two eyewitnesses, both of whom had ample opportunity to view defendant during the commission of the crimes, and both of whom recognized defendant as the man they had previously seen in their neighborhood, constituted overwhelming proof of guilt ( see, People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620, 621).
While the trial court should have expressly instructed the jury that the People's burden of proving defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt attached to each and every element of the crimes charged, the significance of the requirement that defendant be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt was adequately explained, and we find that the charge, in its entirety, sufficiently conveyed the appropriate burden of proof to the jury ( People v Francis, 99 A.D.2d 841).
We have considered defendant's other contentions and find them to be without merit. Brown, J.P., Rubin, Lawrence and Kunzeman, JJ., concur.