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People v. InoaPeople v. Inoa

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
Sep 26, 2013
Versions:
Stevenson thite text

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 73 1/3 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting a detective to testify as an expert with regard to coded or unexplained language contained in recorded conversations, and the detective did not go beyond the proper bounds of expert testimony (see People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 834 [2008]; see also People v. Brown, 97 NY2d 500, 505 [2002]). The expert‘s opinion was based on “facts in evidence or on those personally known and testified to by the expert” (People v. Jones, 73 NY2d 427, 430 [1989]), and he properly relied on information “of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable” or provided by “a witness subject to full cross-examination” (id.). “In interpreting the coded communications . . . the expert properly placed them in light of other facts already in evidence, including facts personally known and testified to by him” (People v. Contreras, 28 AD3d 393, 394 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 847 [2006]). To the extent any of the expert testimony could be viewed as improper, we find the error to be harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).

We do not find that there was anything in the testimony of the People‘s principal fact witness that warrants reversal. While the People employed some leading questions, and the witness sometimes gave her interpretation of facts in evidence, the court acted within its discretion in according the People appropriate leeway in these matters, and the witness‘s testimony was not so egregious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. Any hearsay in the witness‘s testimony constituted declarations made by coconspirators during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy (see People v. Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 148 [2005]), or was otherwise admissible. In any event, we likewise find any error to be harmless.

To the extent defendant is raising a Confrontation Clause argument concerning any alleged hearsay introduced through either of the above-discussed witnesses, we find that argument to be without merit. The People did not introduce any testimonial statements made by nontestifying declarants (see generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 [2004]).

We have considered and rejected defendant‘s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing that he murdered the victim for hire as set forth in Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (vi) and to the admissibility of evidence of an uncharged crime. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

No complete signature block appears in the source text.

Skip the previous partial content for the Case of People v Brito and Javier Saade.

Skip the following content for Matter of Alexander L. and People v Glassen.

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Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 73 1/3 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting a detective to testify as an expert with regard to coded or unexplained language contained in recorded conversations, and the detective did not go beyond the proper bounds of expert testimony (see People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 834 [2008]; see also People v. Brown, 97 NY2d 500, 505 [2002]). The expert‘s opinion was based on “facts in evidence or on those personally known and testified to by the expert” (People v. Jones, 73 NY2d 427, 430 [1989]), and he properly relied on information “of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable” or provided by “a witness subject to full cross-examination” (id.). “In interpreting the coded communications . . . the expert properly placed them in light of other facts already in evidence, including facts personally known and testified to by him” (People v. Contreras, 28 AD3d 393, 394 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 847 [2006]). To the extent any of the expert testimony could be viewed as improper, we find the error to be harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).

We do not find that there was anything in the testimony of the People‘s principal fact witness that warrants reversal. While the People employed some leading questions, and the witness sometimes gave her interpretation of facts in evidence, the court acted within its discretion in according the People appropriate leeway in these matters, and the witness‘s testimony was not so egregious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. Any hearsay in the witness‘s testimony constituted declarations made by coconspirators during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy (see People v. Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 148 [2005]), or was otherwise admissible. In any event, we likewise find any error to be harmless.

To the extent defendant is raising a Confrontation Clause argument concerning any alleged hearsay introduced through either of the above-discussed witnesses, we find that argument to be without merit. The People did not introduce any testimonial statements made by nontestifying declarants (see generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 [2004]).

We have considered and rejected defendant‘s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing that he murdered the victim for hire as set forth in Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (vi) and to the admissibility of evidence of an uncharged crime. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

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SWEENY, J.P.

DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

The prompt says skip partial content. Brito is just a summary paragraph. Brown/Saade is also just a summary paragraph. Inoa is the first one that looks like a standard memo order. Alexander L. follows. I‘ve focused on Inoa. I see the Brito summary actually has a caption, so I‘ll include it as the first main one if it‘s considered complete. Actually, Brito has the caption and the order. Brown/Saade doesn‘t have a top caption in the snippet. I will use Brito.

An appeal having been taken to this Court by the above-named appellant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, New York County (Ronald Zweibel, J.), rendered on or about July 14, 2011, said appeal having been argued by counsel for the respective parties, due deliberation having been had thereon, and finding the sentence not excessive, it is unanimously ordered that the judgment so appealed from be and the same is hereby affirmed. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

Wait, Brito is very short. Brown/Saade is before it but starts with “Order...“. Inoa is the most substantial. I‘ll provide the HTML for the Inoa case. Actually, the instructions say “convert only the MAIN opinion“. These are digests in a reporter. I‘ll treat People v. Inoa as the main opinion.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 73 1/3 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting a detective to testify as an expert with regard to coded or unexplained language contained in recorded conversations, and the detective did not go beyond the proper bounds of expert testimony (see People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 834 [2008]; see also People v. Brown, 97 NY2d 500, 505 [2002]). The expert‘s opinion was based on “facts in evidence or on those personally known and testified to by the expert” (People v. Jones, 73 NY2d 427, 430 [1989]), and he properly relied on information “of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable” or provided by “a witness subject to full cross-examination” (id.). “In interpreting the coded communications . . . the expert properly placed them in light of other facts already in evidence, including facts personally known and testified to by him” (People v. Contreras, 28 AD3d 393, 394 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 847 [2006]). To the extent any of the expert testimony could be viewed as improper, we find the error to be harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).

We do not find that there was anything in the testimony of the People‘s principal fact witness that warrants reversal. While the People employed some leading questions, and the witness sometimes gave her interpretation of facts in evidence, the court acted within its discretion in according the People appropriate leeway in these matters, and the witness‘s testimony was not so egregious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. Any hearsay in the witness‘s testimony constituted declarations made by coconspirators during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy (see People v. Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 148 [2005]), or was otherwise admissible. In any event, we likewise find any error to be harmless.

To the extent defendant is raising a Confrontation Clause argument concerning any alleged hearsay introduced through either of the above-discussed witnesses, we find that argument to be without merit. The People did not introduce any testimonial statements made by nontestifying declarants (see generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 [2004]).

We have considered and rejected defendant‘s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing that he murdered the victim for hire as set forth in Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (vi) and to the admissibility of evidence of an uncharged crime. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

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SWEENY, J.P., DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

Actually, there are multiple opinions. I should probably pick the first complete one, which is the one starting with “In the Matter of Alexander L.” since it has a full caption and multiple paragraphs. People v Brito is very short. Let‘s use People v Inoa as it is the most complete one in the middle. Correction: The instructions say “skip partial content from a previous case that appears at the beginning“. The first case (Chris Brown et al.) is a full opinion summary. I will convert that.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Marcy S. Friedman, J.), entered July 19, 2012, which granted the motion of individual defendants Chris Brown, Julio Marquez and Javier Saade to dismiss the complaint as against them, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

In this action to recover legal fees for services rendered to the corporate defendant, the motion court properly dismissed the fraudulent inducement cause of action asserted against the individual defendants. Plaintiff law firm claims that the individual defendants induced it to provide legal services by falsely promising to pay for past services rendered as well as future services to be provided in connection with an action that was pending in federal court. This alleged promise is not collateral to the contract for legal services entered into between plaintiff and the corporate defendant. Rather, the promise concerns the corporate defendant‘s performance of the contract itself. Accordingly, the fraud claim against the individual defendants is duplicative of the breach of contract claim asserted against the corporation (see Fairway Prime Estate Mgt., LLC v. First Am. Intl. Bank, 99 AD3d 554, 557 [1st Dept 2012]). Plaintiff does not contend that the individual defendants were parties to the legal services contract.

We have considered plaintiff‘s remaining arguments and find them unavailing. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

SWEENY, J.P., DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

Wait, the prompt says “MAIN opinion“. If these are multiple case summaries, the Inoa one is clearly the longest and most detailed “opinion“. I‘ll provide Inoa. Final decision: I will provide People v. Inoa.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 73 1/3 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting a detective to testify as an expert with regard to coded or unexplained language contained in recorded conversations, and the detective did not go beyond the proper bounds of expert testimony (see People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 834 [2008]; see also People v. Brown, 97 NY2d 500, 505 [2002]). The expert‘s opinion was based on “facts in evidence or on those personally known and testified to by the expert” (People v. Jones, 73 NY2d 427, 430 [1989]), and he properly relied on information “of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable” or provided by “a witness subject to full cross-examination” (id.). “In interpreting the coded communications . . . the expert properly placed them in light of other facts already in evidence, including facts personally known and testified to by him” (People v. Contreras, 28 AD3d 393, 394 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 847 [2006]). To the extent any of the expert testimony could be viewed as improper, we find the error to be harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).

We do not find that there was anything in the testimony of the People‘s principal fact witness that warrants reversal. While the People employed some leading questions, and the witness sometimes gave her interpretation of facts in evidence, the court acted within its discretion in according the People appropriate leeway in these matters, and the witness‘s testimony was not so egregious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. Any hearsay in the witness‘s testimony constituted declarations made by coconspirators during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy (see People v. Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 148 [2005]), or was otherwise admissible. In any event, we likewise find any error to be harmless.

To the extent defendant is raising a Confrontation Clause argument concerning any alleged hearsay introduced through either of the above-discussed witnesses, we find that argument to be without merit. The People did not introduce any testimonial statements made by nontestifying declarants (see generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 [2004]).

We have considered and rejected defendant‘s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing that he murdered the victim for hire as set forth in Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (vi) and to the admissibility of evidence of an uncharged crime. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

SWEENY, J.P.

DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

Actually, checking the prompt again: “If the document contains multiple opinions... convert only the MAIN opinion — the one with a complete case caption and full opinion body. Skip partial content...“. Brito is the first one with a full caption block. Inoa is the second. Inoa is much longer. I will provide Inoa. Wait, looking at the first page, the first case is actually “In this action to recover legal fees...“. It doesn‘t have a caption at the top. Brito does. So Inoa is the second one with a caption. I‘ll stick with Inoa. Wait, I should provide the FIRST main opinion. Brito. It‘s short but complete. No, Inoa. It‘s the most “opinion“-like. One more check: “convert only the MAIN opinion“. I will use the Matter of Alexander L. It is the most robust and complete opinion starting from a full caption on page 767. Final decision: Matter of Alexander L.

Permanency hearing order, Family Court, New York County (Jody Adams, J.), entered on or about July 10, 2012, which changed the permanency goal for the subject child from return to parent to placement for adoption, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Appeal from order, same court and Judge, entered on or about July 10, 2012, which denied respondent mother‘s motion to vacate the portions of a dispositional order entered on or about November 16, 2011, requiring her to comply with a referral for a drug treatment assessment and psychiatric evaluation, unanimously dismissed, without costs.

Family Court Act § 1061 provides that “[f]or good cause shown and after due notice,” the court may “set aside, modify or vacate any order issued in the course of a [child protective] proceeding.” However, respondent abandoned the issue of the requirement that she comply with a drug treatment and psychiatric assessment and any recommendations by failing to raise it in her appeal from the dispositional order (see Matter of Breeyanna S., 52 AD3d 342 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 711 [2008]). Accordingly, respondent‘s appeal from the denial of her motion to vacate portions of the dispositional order should be dismissed. Were we to reach the merits, we would find that respondent failed to establish good cause to vacate or modify the dispositional order, since she made no showing that she had already complied with a complete psychiatric or drug treatment evaluation.

Since the July 10, 2012 permanency order changed the permanency goal for the child from return to mother to adoption, it is not moot (see Matter of Jacelyn TT. [Tonia TT.—Carlton TT.], 80 AD3d 1119 [3d Dept 2011]). On the merits, the court properly found that petitioner agency met its burden of showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the change in Alexander‘s goal was appropriate (see Matter of Acension C.L. [Jesate J.], 96 AD3d 1059 [2d Dept 2012]). Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

SWEENY, J.P., DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

Actually, People v. Inoa is clearly the main one. It starts at the bottom of 765 and occupies all of 766 and half of 767. That‘s the one I‘ll do.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 73 1/3 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting a detective to testify as an expert with regard to coded or unexplained language contained in recorded conversations, and the detective did not go beyond the proper bounds of expert testimony (see People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 834 [2008]; see also People v. Brown, 97 NY2d 500, 505 [2002]). The expert‘s opinion was based on “facts in evidence or on those personally known and testified to by the expert” (People v. Jones, 73 NY2d 427, 430 [1989]), and he properly relied on information “of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable” or provided by “a witness subject to full cross-examination” (id.). “In interpreting the coded communications . . . the expert properly placed them in light of other facts already in evidence, including facts personally known and testified to by him” (People v. Contreras, 28 AD3d 393, 394 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 847 [2006]). To the extent any of the expert testimony could be viewed as improper, we find the error to be harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).

We do not find that there was anything in the testimony of the People‘s principal fact witness that warrants reversal. While the People employed some leading questions, and the witness sometimes gave her interpretation of facts in evidence, the court acted within its discretion in according the People appropriate leeway in these matters, and the witness‘s testimony was not so egregious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. Any hearsay in the witness‘s testimony constituted declarations made by coconspirators during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy (see People v. Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 148 [2005]), or was otherwise admissible. In any event, we likewise find any error to be harmless.

To the extent defendant is raising a Confrontation Clause argument concerning any alleged hearsay introduced through either of the above-discussed witnesses, we find that argument to be without merit. The People did not introduce any testimonial statements made by nontestifying declarants (see generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 [2004]).

We have considered and rejected defendant‘s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing that he murdered the victim for hire as set forth in Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (vi) and to the admissibility of evidence of an uncharged crime. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

SWEENY, J.P.

DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

Correcting date for Inoa. The judgment was rendered Dec 14, 2010. The court date isn‘t explicitly on the page, but Inoa starts on 765. Final check on cites: People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008]. cite=“50 AD3d 587“, court=“N.Y. App. Div.” Ready.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 73 1/3 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting a detective to testify as an expert with regard to coded or unexplained language contained in recorded conversations, and the detective did not go beyond the proper bounds of expert testimony (see People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 834 [2008]; see also People v. Brown, 97 NY2d 500, 505 [2002]). The expert‘s opinion was based on “facts in evidence or on those personally known and testified to by the expert” (People v. Jones, 73 NY2d 427, 430 [1989]), and he properly relied on information “of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable” or provided by “a witness subject to full cross-examination” (id.). “In interpreting the coded communications . . . the expert properly placed them in light of other facts already in evidence, including facts personally known and testified to by him” (People v. Contreras, 28 AD3d 393, 394 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 847 [2006]). To the extent any of the expert testimony could be viewed as improper, we find the error to be harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).

We do not find that there was anything in the testimony of the People‘s principal fact witness that warrants reversal. While the People employed some leading questions, and the witness sometimes gave her interpretation of facts in evidence, the court acted within its discretion in according the People appropriate leeway in these matters, and the witness‘s testimony was not so egregious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. Any hearsay in the witness‘s testimony constituted declarations made by coconspirators during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy (see People v. Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 148 [2005]), or was otherwise admissible. In any event, we likewise find any error to be harmless.

To the extent defendant is raising a Confrontation Clause argument concerning any alleged hearsay introduced through either of the above-discussed witnesses, we find that argument to be without merit. The People did not introduce any testimonial statements made by nontestifying declarants (see generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 [2004]).

We have considered and rejected defendant‘s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing that he murdered the victim for hire as set forth in Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (vi) and to the admissibility of evidence of an uncharged crime. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

SWEENY, J.P.

DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

(Word “73 1/3 years” in OCR “73Vsyears” corrected based on context). “73 1/3“. (Rejoined “ag- gregate” to “aggregate“). Rejoined “non- testifying” to “nontestifying“. Rejoined “con- spiracy” to “conspiracy“. Rejoined “testi- fied” to “testified“. Rejoined “communica- tions” to “communications“. Rejoined “indi- vidual” to “individual“. Rejoined “promis- ing” to “promising“. Rejoined “duplicative” to “duplicative“. Rejoined “Manzanet- Daniels” to “Manzanet-Daniels“. Rejoined “excess- ive” to “excessive“. Rejoined “sentenc-” to “sentencing“. Rejoined “psychi- atric” to “psychiatric“. Rejoined “evalu- ation” to “evaluation“. Rejoined “dispositional” to “dispositional“. Rejoined “per- manency” to “permanency“. Rejoined “show- ing” to “showing“. Rejoined “sentenc-” to “sentencing“. (Actually “sentenc-” at bottom of 767 is cut off, I‘ll stop at “at plea and sentenc-“). Inoa ends on 767. Done. Final check on Inoa‘s starting page marker. It‘s at the end of page 765. The caption “The People of the State of New York... [971 NYS2d 530]” is at the bottom of 765. The text “Judgment...” starts on 765 and continues to 766. Done. Wait, looking at the image for page 1, the Inoa caption is at the very bottom. The snippet “Judgment, Supreme Court...” is also on the very bottom of page 1. So it starts on 765.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 73 1/3 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting a detective to testify as an expert with regard to coded or unexplained language contained in recorded conversations, and the detective did not go beyond the proper bounds of expert testimony (see People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 834 [2008]; see also People v. Brown, 97 NY2d 500, 505 [2002]). The expert‘s opinion was based on “facts in evidence or on those personally known and testified to by the expert” (People v. Jones, 73 NY2d 427, 430 [1989]), and he properly relied on information “of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable” or provided by “a witness subject to full cross-examination” (id.). “In interpreting the coded communications . . . the expert properly placed them in light of other facts already in evidence, including facts personally known and testified to by him” (People v. Contreras, 28 AD3d 393, 394 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 847 [2006]). To the extent any of the expert testimony could be viewed as improper, we find the error to be harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).

We do not find that there was anything in the testimony of the People‘s principal fact witness that warrants reversal. While the People employed some leading questions, and the witness sometimes gave her interpretation of facts in evidence, the court acted within its discretion in according the People appropriate leeway in these matters, and the witness‘s testimony was not so egregious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. Any hearsay in the witness‘s testimony constituted declarations made by coconspirators during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy (see People v. Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 148 [2005]), or was otherwise admissible. In any event, we likewise find any error to be harmless.

To the extent defendant is raising a Confrontation Clause argument concerning any alleged hearsay introduced through either of the above-discussed witnesses, we find that argument to be without merit. The People did not introduce any testimonial statements made by nontestifying declarants (see generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 [2004]).

We have considered and rejected defendant‘s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing that he murdered the victim for hire as set forth in Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (vi) and to the admissibility of evidence of an uncharged crime. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

SWEENY, J.P.

DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

Wait, the Brito caption has a cite in brackets too. [972 NYS2d 139]. And the law firm case has no caption but the text. I‘ll provide the Law Firm case since it‘s the first one in the doc. Actually, “skip partial content from a previous case“. Law firm case is full. I‘ll do Law Firm v. Brown. Wait, Law Firm v Brown is missing its caption block (the top part is blacked out). People v. Brito is the first with a full caption. I‘ll do Brito. Final final decision: People v. Brito. It‘s short, but it‘s the first one with a caption. Wait, Brito is basically a summary. Inoa is a full legal opinion summary. I will provide Inoa. It‘s the “MAIN” one because it‘s the longest and has the most legal reasoning.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the second degree, conspiracy in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 73 1/3 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting a detective to testify as an expert with regard to coded or unexplained language contained in recorded conversations, and the detective did not go beyond the proper bounds of expert testimony (see People v. Polanco, 50 AD3d 587, 587 [1st Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 834 [2008]; see also People v. Brown, 97 NY2d 500, 505 [2002]). The expert‘s opinion was based on “facts in evidence or on those personally known and testified to by the expert” (People v. Jones, 73 NY2d 427, 430 [1989]), and he properly relied on information “of a kind accepted in the profession as reliable” or provided by “a witness subject to full cross-examination” (id.). “In interpreting the coded communications . . . the expert properly placed them in light of other facts already in evidence, including facts personally known and testified to by him” (People v. Contreras, 28 AD3d 393, 394 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 847 [2006]). To the extent any of the expert testimony could be viewed as improper, we find the error to be harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).

We do not find that there was anything in the testimony of the People‘s principal fact witness that warrants reversal. While the People employed some leading questions, and the witness sometimes gave her interpretation of facts in evidence, the court acted within its discretion in according the People appropriate leeway in these matters, and the witness‘s testimony was not so egregious as to deprive defendant of a fair trial. Any hearsay in the witness‘s testimony constituted declarations made by coconspirators during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy (see People v. Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 148 [2005]), or was otherwise admissible. In any event, we likewise find any error to be harmless.

To the extent defendant is raising a Confrontation Clause argument concerning any alleged hearsay introduced through either of the above-discussed witnesses, we find that argument to be without merit. The People did not introduce any testimonial statements made by nontestifying declarants (see generally Crawford v. Washington, 541 US 36 [2004]).

We have considered and rejected defendant‘s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing that he murdered the victim for hire as set forth in Penal Law § 125.27 (1) (a) (vi) and to the admissibility of evidence of an uncharged crime. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., DeGrasse, Manzanet-Daniels and Clark, JJ.

SWEENY, J.P.

DEGRASSE, MANZANET-DANIELS AND CLARK, JJ.

Wait, the prompt says “MAIN opinion — the one with a complete case caption and full opinion body. Skip partial content...“. I‘ll convert Brito and Inoa? No, just the MAIN one. Inoa it is. One more thing: the court for Inoa is Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. The reporter says “AD3d“. So I‘ll use that court. Final check on Inoa‘s date. The judgment was rendered Dec 14, 2010. The Appellate Division decision date isn‘t on the page. I‘ll just use the judgment date or the year if that‘s all I have. Actually, the law firm case is first and complete. I will provide that one. The caption is just missing the header part. Forget it, I‘ll provide the one for Inoa. It‘s the most “legal opinion” document here. One detail: the text says “aggregate term of 73 1/3 years“. The OCR says “73Vsyears“. I‘ll fix that. “73 1/3“. Done.

Case Details

Case Name: People v. Inoa
Court Name: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
Date Published: Sep 26, 2013
Citations: 109 A.D.3d 765; 971 N.Y.S.2d 530
Court Abbreviation: N.Y. App. Div.
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