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People v. Swinnie

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Oct 6, 2003
309 A.D.2d 774 (N.Y. App. Div. 2003)

Opinion

2001-06686

Argued September 23, 2003.

October 6, 2003.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Eng, J.), rendered June 28, 2001, convicting him of murder in the second degree (two counts), attempted robbery in the first degree (two counts), attempted robbery in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Lynn W. L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (Mae C. Quinn of counsel), for appellant.

Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M. Castellano, Sharon Y. Brodt, and Roni C. Piplani of counsel), for respondent.

Before: SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, J.P., WILLIAM D. FRIEDMANN, LEO F. McGINITY, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, JJ.


DECISION ORDER

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant's contention that the evidence was legally insufficient to establish his guilt is unpreserved for appellate review ( see CPL 470.05; People v. Gray, 86 N.Y.2d 10; People v. Udzinski, 146 A.D.2d 245). In any event, 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. Moreover, resolution of issues of credibility, as well as the weight to be accorded 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 clearly unsupported by the record ( see People v. Garafolo, 44 A.D.2d 86, 88). Upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the verdict of guilt was not against the weight of the evidence ( see CPL 470.15).

A police detective testified that the victim's next-door neighbor had the same first name as the individual to whose house another witness had driven the defendant and his accomplice at the time of the incident. The fact that this testimony did not directly establish that the next-door neighbor and the individual were the same person went to the weight of the evidence rather than to its admissibility ( see People v. Garcia, 299 A.D.2d 493).

FEUERSTEIN, J.P., FRIEDMANN, McGINITY and SCHMIDT, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Swinnie

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Oct 6, 2003
309 A.D.2d 774 (N.Y. App. Div. 2003)
Case details for

People v. Swinnie

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, ETC., respondent, v. VINCENT SWINNIE, appellant

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

Date published: Oct 6, 2003

Citations

309 A.D.2d 774 (N.Y. App. Div. 2003)
765 N.Y.S.2d 58