People v. SweetPeople v. Sweet
Decided and Entered: December 16, 2021
Calendar Date: October 14, 2021
Before: Garry, P.J., Egan Jr., Aarons, Reynolds Fitzgerald and Colangelo, JJ.
Thomas F. Garner, Middleburgh, for appellant.
Lorraine C. Diamond, District Attorney, Fonda (Christina Pearson of counsel), for respondent.
Reynolds Fitzgerald, J.
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Montgomery County (Catena, J.), rendered April 19, 2019, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of murder in the second degree and conspiracy in the second degree.
In June 2018, the victim was shot and killed on the porch of his apartment. In October 2018, defendant, Eric S. Rivera and Aaron Cockfield Jr. were each charged, by a joint indictment, with murder in the second degree and conspiracy in the second degree.1
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted as charged. County Court thereafter sentenced him to a prison term of 25 years to life on the murder conviction, and 8 1/3 to 25 years on the conspiracy conviction.2 Defendant appeals.
Defendant contends that his conviction for murder in the second degree is not supported by legally sufficient evidence as the People failed to establish intent. Additionally, he alleges that the verdict on both counts is against the weight of the evidence, as the testimony of his codefendants was not credible, and the People failed to produce physical evidence connecting him to the murder. “[A] legal sufficiency challenge requires this Court to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the People and evaluate whether there is any valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences which could lead a rational
. . . [w]ith intent to cause the death of another person, he [or she] causes the death of such person or of a third person” (
At trial, the victim‘s girlfriend testified that at around 8:00 p.m. on June 29, 2018, the victim left the residence that they shared. The following morning, she discovered him dead outside on the porch lying on his back in a pool of blood. A friend of Rivera testified that she allowed Rivera and defendant to take her vehicle and that defendant told her that they were going to “confront” the victim. Cockfield, who testified at trial as a condition of his plea bargain, stated that, prior to him meeting up with them, defendant and Rivera had formulated a plan to harm the victim, which was, in essence, to “[get the victim] before he [got them].” In addition, defendant specifically stated that they needed to “shoot” the victim. According to Cockfield‘s testimony, his role in the plan was to be the driver. He testified that he drove defendant and Rivera to a barn, defendant entered the barn and then, after exiting, defendant fired a gun — which Rivera told him was a 9 millimeter — into the air five or six times. Defendant then instructed Cockfield to drive to a warehouse, where defendant and Rivera changed their clothes, and then he drove to the victim‘s apartment where defendant instructed him to park on a nearby street. Cockfield further testified that he heard multiple gunshots and, shortly thereafter, defendant and Rivera jumped into the
Defendant‘s employer, who also testified pursuant to a cooperation agreement with the People, stated that he owned a barn where he kept guns and pistols with ammunition, including a Walther 9 millimeter, that defendant had keys to the barn and that defendant also knew where a spare key was kept. He further testified that about two months after the murder, he and defendant‘s girlfriend drove together to the intersection of Fox Road and Route 5 in Montgomery County to retrieve the gun, which defendant‘s girlfriend took to her house. About a month later, defendant‘s girlfriend contacted defendant‘s employer requesting that the gun be removed from her home. He and the girlfriend took the gun and drove to Starkville, Herkimer County where they buried what he believed to be his Walther 9 millimeter gun.
Defendant‘s girlfriend testified, pursuant to a plea deal, that on June 30, 2018, she went to the City of Gloversville, Fulton County to the home of defendant‘s aunt and uncle for a cookout. During the course of the evening, defendant became aware that he was wanted by the police with regard to the victim‘s shooting, and he confessed to her that “he did it,” specifically stating that “he shot [the victim] in the back of the head.” Defendant then explained to her where the gun was and asked her to contact his employer to “get rid of [the gun].” She further testified that she and defendant‘s employer ultimately retrieved the 9 millimeter gun from Fox Road, she “cleaned it with bleach and ammonia . . . [t]o get rid of fingerprints and evidence” and “[took] the clip out of the gun,” at which point she “noticed that there was a bullet missing.” She wrapped the gun in a towel and, on September 20, 2018, she and defendant‘s employer buried the gun in Starkville.
Rivera, who also testified for the People in accordance with his plea deal, stated that he borrowed around $150 from the victim for marihuana and explained that he planned to repay the money either directly to the victim or through defendant. As he had not repaid the money to the victim, the victim threatened him on Facebook. On June 29, 2018, Rivera met defendant at a friend‘s house, and defendant suggested shooting the victim. After Cockfield arrived at the friend‘s house, he, defendant and Rivera left and drove to a barn. Rivera and defendant entered the barn using defendant‘s key and defendant took a 9 millimeter gun and a .22 caliber semiautomatic gun, both of which were loaded with ammunition. Once outside the
A State Police investigator testified that a search for the 9 millimeter gun was conducted several times, but the gun was not recovered. A state trooper testified that he was called to collect evidence from the barn and recovered seven bullet casings. A second investigator with the State Police testified that he performed mobile forensics on defendant‘s cell phone where he found text messages related to transportation from “G-ville” and “Fox Road,” Google searches dated June 30, 2018 relative to whether the police could “ping” his phone, and Google searches dated July 1, 2018 regarding the safety mechanisms of a “Walther P99” weapon. The last witness was an individual incarcerated with defendant during December 2018, who testified that defendant told him about his and his codefendants’ plan to “execute” the victim and admitted to shooting the victim with a “Walther [9] millimeter P88.”
As the intent to commit murder may be inferred from defendant‘s actions and surrounding circumstances (see People v Rouse, 34 NY3d 269, 274 [2019]; People v Taylor, 196 AD3d 851, 852 [2021], lvs denied 37 NY3d 1025, 1030 [2021]), we find legally sufficient evidence to establish that defendant possessed the requisite intent to shoot and kill the victim (see People v Stover, 178 AD3d 1138, 1143-1144 [2019], lv denied 34 NY3d 1163 [2020]; People v Reese, 166 AD3d 1057, 1060 [2018], lv denied 33 NY3d 953 [2019]). Cockfield and Rivera testified to defendant‘s plan to kill the victim, and a friend of Rivera confirmed the plan, specifically how defendant, Cockfield and Rivera would “shoot [the victim] up.” Further, defendant confessed to committing the crime to both his girlfriend and an incarcerated individual. Turning to defendant‘s weight of the evidence claims, a different verdict would not have been unreasonable given that many witnesses either testified against defendant pursuant to plea agreements or had substantial criminal records and the gun was never recovered. Nevertheless, as the testimony was not inherently unbelievable or incredible as a matter of law and was fully explored during cross-examination,
Defendant next asserts that he was prejudiced and deprived of his right to a fair trial by the introduction of data from his cell phone. At the time of defendant‘s trial,
Additionally,
Following jury selection on the first day of trial, the People indicated that they were attempting to download data from defendant‘s cell phone but had so far been unsuccessful in decoding the phone‘s password. Defendant noted that this information had previously been requested via discovery demands. On the second day of trial, the People advised County Court and defendant that they obtained information from defendant‘s cell phone and intended to introduce a screenshot, text messages and two Google searches. Defendant moved to preclude this information arguing that the State Police had the cell phone for nine months, defense counsel had prepared a theme, theory and cross-examination on the evidence that he had at the time, and defendant would be prejudiced. Defendant further argued preclusion was the only viable cure.
We do not find that the People violated any discovery statute, as the People promptly turned over the cell phone evidence to defendant as soon as it was received. Moreover, the People provided a plausible explanation for the late submission due to the arduous, slow and complex process of discovering
Defendant lastly contends that his sentence is harsh and excessive as County Court failed to consider his lack of prior violent criminal convictions in imposing the maximum sentence and, therefore, it was based solely in retribution. “It is well settled that a sentence that falls within the permissible statutory ranges will not be disturbed unless it can be shown that the sentencing court abused its discretion or that extraordinary circumstances exist warranting a modification in the interest of justice” (People v Barzee, 190 AD3d 1016, 1021 [2021] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted], lv denied 36 NY3d 1094 [2021]; see People v Marshall, 162 AD3d 1110, 1115 [2018], lv denied 31 NY3d 1150 [2018]). “In fashioning an appropriate sentence, the trial court is required to weigh and consider societal protection, rehabilitation and deterrence, as well as the circumstances that gave rise to the conviction” (People v Johnson, 197 AD3d 61, 72 [2021] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted]; see People v Pigford, 148 AD3d 1299, 1302 [2017], lv denied 29 NY3d 1085 [2017]). Here, County Court expressly considered defendant‘s lengthy criminal
Garry, P.J., Egan Jr., Aarons and Colangelo, JJ., concur.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.