THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v CHARLES R. THIBEAULT SR., Appellant.
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department
900 N.Y.S.2d 501 | 73 A.D.3d 1237
2010
F3d 163 [2010]), this Court is bound to follow decisions of the New York Court of Appeals, which have found the same statute constitutional (see People v Quinones, 12 NY3d 116, 125-131 [2009]; People v Rivera, 5 NY3d 61, 66-70 [2005]; People v Rosen, 96 NY2d 329, 334-335 [2001]).
Kavanagh, J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Cortland County (Campbell, J.), rendered April 23, 2009, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of murder in the second degree, burglary in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the
On the evening of May 26, 2008, the bloody and half-clad body of defendant‘s estranged wife was found at the bottom of the staircase inside their home. An autopsy subsequently determined that the victim had been assaulted and while she lay at the bottom of the staircase her voice box was crushed and she was strangled to death. At the time of the victim‘s death, the parties’ 23-year marriage had badly deteriorated and they were living apart pursuant to an order of protection that the victim had obtained because defendant had previously assaulted her and, during the course of that assault, attempted to choke her. After traces of defendant‘s DNA were found on the blood-stained shirt that the victim was wearing on the day of her death and her DNA was recovered from a blood spot found on a truck that defendant was driving on the night of the attack, defendant was charged by indictment with murder in the second degree, burglary in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree1 and criminal contempt in the first degree. After trial, defendant was convicted as charged and an
Defendant has consistently maintained that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, and on this appeal argues, among other things, that his conviction of these crimes is not supported by legally sufficient evidence, the jury‘s verdict is against the weight of the credible evidence and evidence was improperly admitted that served to deprive him of a fair trial.2 We disagree.
Throughout this trial, the prosecution based much of its claim that defendant committed this murder on the fact that circumstantial evidence found at the crime scene strongly suggested that the perpetrator knew the victim, had access to her home and entered it intending to harm her. In that regard, it was established that force was not used to gain entry into the victim‘s home, nor does it appear that any money or property was forcibly taken from the victim during the attack.3 In addition, the post-mortem examination confirmed that, while the victim had been battered and bruised during the attack, she was not sexually assaulted. Moreover, the manner of her death—the sheer ferocity of the attack and the fact that the victim died from manual strangulation after she was seriously injured and while she lay helpless on the bottom of the staircase—provides compelling corroboration for the prosecution‘s contention that this was an attack deliberately aimed at the victim by someone who harbored a deep-seated hatred for her.
The evidence at trial established that the only person in the victim‘s life who had such a motive and posed a genuine threat to her physical well-being at the time of her death was defendant. As previously noted, an order of protection was in place at the time of the murder barring defendant from the marital residence and prohibiting him from having any contact with the victim. It was also established that, in the days leading up to the murder, defendant repeatedly violated the terms of this order and, in retrospect, engaged in conduct that had ominous implications for the victim‘s welfare and physical safety. For example, on May 12, 2008, some two weeks prior to the murder, defendant was caught on film by a store security camera walking
In making this determination, we have taken into account defendant‘s arguments made at trial as to the condition of the patio door and the timeline of his activities on the day of the murder, which he claims serve to create a reasonable doubt as a matter of law as to his guilt. However, even if the jury fully embraced defendant‘s interpretation of this evidence, it still did not make it impossible or even improbable that he committed this crime. Weighing the conflicting testimony and conflicting inferences that flowed from this evidence, and given the deference that is traditionally accorded a jury‘s credibility determinations, we conclude that “the jury was justified in finding the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt” (People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 348 [2007]; see People v Levy, 52 AD3d 1025, 1026 [2008]).
We disagree with defendant‘s contention that it was error for County Court to allow into evidence a description of the circumstances that led to the issuance of the order of protection or to permit testimony regarding statements made by the victim to third parties to the effect that she was afraid of defendant. The
As for the testimony of the witnesses who stayed overnight with the victim to provide her with company and protection, no claim has been made that this arrangement did not exist or that defendant was not aware of it. In fact, defendant does not contend that his wife never made statements—attributed to her by these witnesses—that she feared defendant or that at the time of her death he was not aware that she was deeply afraid of him. Instead, he argues that this testimony and, in particular, any reference to statements made by the victim to these witnesses constituted hearsay and should not have been admitted as evidence at trial. While it is true that these witnesses did describe what the victim had told them about defendant, this testimony was needed to establish why they were staying with the victim overnight at her home and why, instead of sleeping in her own room, the victim insisted on staying on the floor next to her guests while they slept on the living room couch (see People v Dorm, 12 NY3d at 19; People v Till, 87 NY2d at 837). Moreover, the credibility of these witnesses and the reliability of their testimony has not been seriously questioned, and its relevance to the core issue raised during this trial—defendant‘s identity as the perpetrator of this brutal crime—is undeniable (see People v Casper, 42 AD3d 887, 889-890 [2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 990 [2007]; People v Martinez, 257 AD2d 410, 411 [1999],
As for his conviction for criminal possession of a weapon, the prosecution was required to prove that defendant exercised dominion and control over the area where the firearm was found (see
We do agree with defendant that the weapons possession charge had no relevance to the other charges in the indictment, and his motion for a severance should have been granted (see
We also find that it was inappropriate for the prosecutor to make any reference during the voir dire to defendant‘s right not to testify at trial. These comments were clearly ill-advised and should not have been made. However, County Court reacted appropriately by immediately instructing prospective jurors that they should not draw an adverse inference against defendant should he exercise his constitutional right to elect not to testify. It repeated this instruction throughout the voir dire and reiter-ated
Defendant also claims that photographs from the crime scene—in particular, those of the victim‘s body—should not have been admitted into evidence because they had limited probative value and were unduly prejudicial. “[P]hotographs are admissible if they tend ‘to prove or disprove a disputed or material issue, to illustrate or elucidate other relevant evidence, or to corroborate or disprove some other evidence offered or to be offered.’ They should be excluded ‘only if [their] sole purpose is to arouse the emotions of the jury and to prejudice the defendant‘” (People v Wood, 79 NY2d 958, 960 [1992], quoting People v Pobliner, 32 NY2d 356, 369-370 [1973], cert denied 416 US 905 [1974]). Here, the photographs, while graphic and disturbing, did corroborate the prosecution‘s principal contention that this attack on the victim and, in particular, her manual strangulation was not a random act of violence but, instead, the end result of an unbridled fit of anger (see People v Wright, 38 AD3d 1004, 1006-1007 [2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 853 [2007]; People v Blanchard, 279 AD2d 808, 811 [2001], lv denied 96 NY2d 826 [2001]). In addition to documenting the nature and extent of the victim‘s injuries, the photographs served to accurately depict the location of her body in the marital home when it was discovered by her neighbors. Moreover, County Court repeatedly admonished the jury to view the photographs “objectively, without emotion” and consider them only as they were relevant to the issues that had been raised at trial (see People v Ford, 43 AD3d 571, 574 [2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 1033 [2008]). Under the circumstances, the court‘s decision to admit these photographs as evidence and have them shown to the jury did not constitute an abuse of its discretion (see People v Alvarez, 38 AD3d 930, 931-932 [2007], lv denied 8 NY3d 981 [2007]; People v Mastropietro, 232 AD2d 725, 726 [1996], lv denied 89 NY2d 1038 [1997]). Finally, defendant‘s claim that his sentence was the result of County Court‘s bias is wholly unpersuasive, especially when viewed in light of the particularly heinous nature of the crimes for which he stands convicted (see People v Berrios, 176 AD2d 547, 548-549 [1991], lv denied 79 NY2d 824 [1991]).
Cardona, P.J., Mercure, Spain and Garry, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.