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People v. Steele

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jun 9, 2005
19 A.D.3d 175 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005)

Opinion

6297.

June 9, 2005.

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Patricia Anne Williams, J.), rendered October 21, 2002, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to an aggregate term of six years, unanimously affirmed.

Stanley Neustadter, Cardozo Appeals Clinic, New York (Ysabel Williams of counsel), for appellant.

Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Jillian E. Wieder of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Friedman, J.P., Nardelli, Williams, Gonzalez and Sweeny, JJ.


The court properly denied defendant's request for a justification charge, since there was no reasonable view of the evidence, when viewed most favorably to defendant, to support that defense. First, there was no reasonable view that defendant used anything less than deadly physical force when he assaulted the complainant with a knife. Defendant used force that was "readily capable of causing death or other serious physical injury" (Penal Law § 10.00), regardless of the degree of injury he actually intended or inflicted ( see People v. Magliato, 68 NY2d 24, 29). Furthermore, the testimony of the defense witness established, at most, that the complainant's companion may have produced a weapon, and it provided no basis for finding that defendant was justified in using a knife against the unarmed complainant ( see People v. Torres, 252 AD2d 60, lv denied 93 NY2d 1028).


Summaries of

People v. Steele

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jun 9, 2005
19 A.D.3d 175 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005)
Case details for

People v. Steele

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. MELVON STEELE…

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

Date published: Jun 9, 2005

Citations

19 A.D.3d 175 (N.Y. App. Div. 2005)
798 N.Y.S.2d 391

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