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People v. O'Connor

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 29, 1995
222 A.D.2d 705 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Opinion

December 29, 1995

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


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

In December 1992, the defendant and several codefendants (see, People v Martinez, 222 A.D.2d 702 [decided herewith]), kidnapped a victim and held him in a building on the Horace Harding Expressway in Queens for several days. The perpetrators demanded approximately $60,000 in ransom money (later reduced to about $30,000) from the victim's relatives and friends. The evidence at trial showed that this defendant punched, kicked, and threatened to kill the victim with a gun. When police officers arrived at the scene, they found the defendant guarding the handcuffed victim in a small back room of the building, and arrested him. The officers subsequently recovered the gun from a wastebasket where the victim indicated it had been hidden.

These facts and circumstances, when viewed together, convinced the experienced officers that the defendant was a participant in the kidnapping; hence, there was probable cause for his arrest (see, People v Oden, 36 N.Y.2d 382, 384; see also, People v Bigelow, 66 N.Y.2d 417, 423; People v Pegram, 203 A.D.2d 391; People v Fernandez, 185 A.D.2d 944, 945; People v Javier, 175 A.D.2d 182). Moreover, the gun seized pursuant to the lawful arrest was properly used to prove the defendant's guilt at trial (see, e.g., Wong Sun v United States, 371 U.S. 471; People v Young, 55 N.Y.2d 419, 424, cert denied 459 U.S. 848).

During the trial, which lasted more than three weeks, a sworn juror became "unavailable for continued service" pursuant to CPL 270.35. The court conducted a reasonably thorough inquiry and recited on the record the facts and reasons for the dismissal of the juror, as required (see, People v Page, 72 N.Y.2d 69, 73; cf., People v Peregda, 164 A.D.2d 849; People v Paniaqua, 160 A.D.2d 334).

The defendant's sentence was not excessive (see, People v Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, 86).

The defendant's remaining contentions are either unpreserved for appellate review (see, CPL 470.05) or without merit. Copertino, J.P., Pizzuto, Santucci and Joy, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. O'Connor

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 29, 1995
222 A.D.2d 705 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
Case details for

People v. O'Connor

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. JOSE O'CONNOR…

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

Date published: Dec 29, 1995

Citations

222 A.D.2d 705 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
636 N.Y.S.2d 77

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