N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 470.15 – Determination of appeals by intermediate appellate courts; scope of review

1. Upon an appeal to an intermediate appellate court from a judgment, sentence or order of a criminal court, such intermediate appellate court may consider and determine any question of law or issue of fact involving error or defect in the criminal court proceedings which may have adversely affected the appellant.
2. Upon such an appeal, the intermediate appellate court must either affirm or reverse or modify the criminal court judgment, sentence or order. The ways in which it may modify a judgment include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. (a) Upon a determination that the trial evidence adduced in support of a verdict is not legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt of an offense of which he was convicted but is legally sufficient to establish his guilt of a lesser included offense, the court may modify the judgment by changing it to one of conviction for the lesser offense;
2. (b) Upon a determination that the trial evidence is not legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt of all the offenses of which he was convicted but is legally sufficient to establish his guilt of one or more of such offenses, the court may modify the judgment by reversing it with respect to the unsupported counts and otherwise affirming it;
3. (c) Upon a determination that a sentence imposed upon a valid conviction is illegal or unduly harsh or severe, the court may modify the judgment by reversing it with respect to the sentence and by otherwise affirming it.
3. A reversal or a modification of a judgment, sentence or order must be based upon a determination made:
1. (a) Upon the law; or
2. (b) Upon the facts; or
3. (c) As a matter of discretion in the interest of justice; or
4. (d) Upon any two or all three of the bases specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c).
4. The kinds of determinations of reversal or modification deemed to be upon the law include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. (a) That a ruling or instruction of the court, duly protested by the defendant, as prescribed in subdivision two of section 470.05, at a trial resulting in a judgment, deprived the defendant of a fair trial;
2. (b) That evidence adduced at a trial resulting in a judgment was not legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt of an offense of which he was convicted;
3. (c) That a sentence was unauthorized, illegally imposed or otherwise invalid as a matter of law.
5. The kinds of determinations of reversal or modification deemed to be on the facts include, but are not limited to, a determination that a verdict of conviction resulting in a judgment was, in whole or in part, against the weight of the evidence.
6. The kinds of determinations of reversal or modification deemed to be made as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. (a) That an error or defect occurring at a trial resulting in a judgment, which error or defect was not duly protested at trial as prescribed in subdivision two of section 470.05 so as to present a question of law, deprived the defendant of a fair trial;
2. (b) That a sentence, though legal, was unduly harsh or severe.