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People v. Richard

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 1, 1991
172 A.D.2d 569 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

April 1, 1991

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


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his request to compel the attendance of the complaining witness at the Wade hearing. The defendant does not have an absolute right to compel the complainant or an identifying witness to testify at a Wade hearing (see, People v. Chipp, 75 N.Y.2d 327, 337, cert denied ___ US ___, 111 S Ct 99). In this case, the hearing testimony of the police detectives established that the pretrial identification procedures they utilized were not suggestive. The defendant failed to make an adequate showing as to the necessity of the complaining witness's testimony. Accordingly, the court's denial of the defendant's application was a proper exercise of discretion (see, People v. Chipp, supra, at 338; People v. Allen, 163 A.D.2d 396; People v. James, 159 A.D.2d 723).

The defendant further contends that his guilt was not established beyond a reasonable doubt. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution (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. The record shows that on the same day the complainant was the victim of a gunpoint robbery and after viewing about 1600 photographs arranged in books she selected the defendant's photograph as the perpetrator of the robbery. About two and one-half weeks later the complainant identified the defendant in a lineup. Her trial testimony demonstrated that she viewed the defendant during the incident for about one minute under good lighting conditions and immediately thereafter was able to provide to the police a detailed description of the facial characteristics and the attire of the perpetrator.

Upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (CPL 470.15). The jury's verdict essentially rested upon its assessment of the complainant's credibility. It is well settled that 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 jury, which saw and heard the witnesses (see, People v. Gaimari, 176 N.Y. 84, 94). Its determination should be accorded great weight on appeal and should not be disturbed unless it is clearly unsupported by the record (see, People v. Garafolo, 44 A.D.2d 86, 88). Upon our review, we find that the jury properly decided to credit the complainant's testimony which, standing alone, was sufficient to support the conviction.

Furthermore, we perceive of no basis upon which to modify the sentence imposed (see, Penal Law § 70.06 [b]; [4] [b]; People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, 85).

We have reviewed the defendant's remaining contentions, including those raised in his supplemental pro se brief, and find them to be without merit. Thompson, J.P., Eiber, Balletta and O'Brien, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Richard

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 1, 1991
172 A.D.2d 569 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

People v. Richard

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. WINSTON RICHARD…

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

Date published: Apr 1, 1991

Citations

172 A.D.2d 569 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

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