Opinion
2014-06-5
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Walter STEPHENS, Jr., Defendant–Appellant.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (David Crow of counsel), and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York (Patrick J. Somers of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Hope Korenstein of counsel), for respondent.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (David Crow of counsel), and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York (Patrick J. Somers of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Hope Korenstein of counsel), for respondent.
MAZZARELLI, J.P., MOSKOWITZ, DeGRASSE, MANZANET–DANIELS, KAPNICK, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Robert M. Stolz, J.), rendered September 27, 2012, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of grand larceny in the first degree and criminal possession of stolen property in the first and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 3 to 9 years, unanimously affirmed.
The verdict was supported by legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence ( see People v. Danielson, 9 N.Y.3d 342, 348–349, 849 N.Y.S.2d 480, 880 N.E.2d 1 [2007] ). The jury could have reasonably inferred defendant's accessorial liability for the theft of over $1 million and his knowing possession of the stolen funds with the intent to benefithimself. It is a reasonable inference, from the totality of circumstances, that defendant knew the large sums of money coming into an account under his control could not have had any legitimate origin ( see generally People v. Reisman, 29 N.Y.2d 278, 285–286, 327 N.Y.S.2d 342, 277 N.E.2d 396 [1971],cert. denied405 U.S. 1041, 92 S.Ct. 1315, 31 L.Ed.2d 582 [1972] ). Furthermore, defendant's overall course of conduct, including his use of the funds, had no reasonable innocent explanation.
We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.