People v. Sabines, 121 A.D.3d 1409 (N.Y. App. Div. 2014). · Go Syfert
People v. Sabines, 121 A.D.3d 1409 (N.Y. App. Div. 2014). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
18 citation events (18 in the last 25 years) across 1 distinct court.
Strongest positive: People v. Taylor (nyappdiv, 2018-07-19)
Top citers, strongest first. 6 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited as authority (rule) People v. Taylor
N.Y. App. Div. · 2018 · confidence medium
Upon evaluating the evidence in a neutral light and giving due deference to the jury's credibility assessments, we find the verdict to be in accord with the weight of the evidence ( see People v Sabines , 121 AD3d at 1410-1411; People v Ostrander , 46 AD3d 1217, 1218 [2007]; People v Thomas , 38 AD3d 1134, 1136 [2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 852 [2007]).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) People v. Brown
N.Y. App. Div. · 2016 · confidence medium
There was evidence presented at trial indicating that after the subject robbery was committed the defendant went home and altered his appearance by changing his clothes before going out again (see People v Sage, 23 NY3d 16, 26 [2014]; People v Sabines, 121 AD3d 1409, 1410 [2014]).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) People v. Morrison
N.Y. App. Div. · 2015 · confidence medium
The requisite intent, in turn, “may be inferred from the circumstances of the [defendant’s] unlawful entry, unexplained presence on the premises, and actions and statements when confronted by police or the property owner” (People v Sabines, 121 AD3d 1409, 1410 [2014] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted]; see People v Peterson, 118 AD3d 1151, 1152 [2014], lv denied 24 NY3d 1087 [2014]; People v Barringer, 54 AD3d 442, 443 [2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 830 , 836 [2008]).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) People v. Rizvi
N.Y. App. Div. · 2015 · confidence medium
Further, there was no evidence indicating that defendant was suffering from a mental defect at the time that would render his statements involuntary (see People v Sabines, 121 AD3d 1409, 1411 [2014]; People v Pouliot, 64 AD3d 1043, 1045-1046 [2009], lv denied 13 NY3d 838 [2009]).
discussed Cited "see" People v. Briggs
N.Y. App. Div. · 2015 · signal: accord · confidence high
As relevant here, to convict defendant of burglary in the second degree, the People were required to prove that defend *1203 ant “knowingly enter [ed] or remain [ed] unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein” and that the building in question was “a dwelling” (Penal Law § 140.25 [2]). “[I]ntent may be inferred from the circumstances of the intruder’s unlawful entry, unexplained presence on the premises, and actions and statements when confronted by police or the property owner” (People v Ostrander, 46 AD3d 1217, 1218 [2007]; accord People v Sabines, 121 AD3d…
discussed Cited "see" People v. Briskin
N.Y. App. Div. · 2015 · signal: see · confidence high
Further, defense counsel’s decision not to object to this singular question may well have been “a reasonable and legitimate strategy under the circumstances” (People *1123 v Taylor, 1 NY3d 174, 177 [2003] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]; see People v Sabines, 121 AD3d 1409, 1412 [2014]) — particularly given the manner in which defense counsel questioned certain of the People’s witnesses as to their contact with the prosecutor prior to trial.
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
The People of the State of New York
v.
Daniel P. Sabines
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Oct 30, 2014.
121 A.D.3d 1409
Clark, Devine, Egan, McCarthy, Rose.
Cited by 6 opinions  |  Published
McCarthy, J.E

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Chenango County (Sullivan, J.), rendered December 16, 2011, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crime of burglary in the second degree.

A homeowner heard a hall closet door opening and the sounds of rummaging in a bedroom on the second floor of his house. When he discovered defendant on that floor, defendant fled. A jury convicted defendant of burglary in the second degree. County Court sentenced him, as a second felony offender, to nine years in prison followed by five years of postrelease supervision. Defendant appeals.

The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. A person is guilty of burglary in the second degree if he or she “knowingly entered a dwelling with intent to commit a crime therein” (People v Ostrander, 46 AD3d 1217, 1218 [2007]; see Penal Law § 140.25 [2]). “[I]ntent may be inferred from the circumstances of the intruder’s unlawful entry, unexplained presence on the premises, and actions and statements when confronted by police or the property owner” (People v Ostrander, 46 AD3d at 1218; accord People v Pierce, 106 AD3d 1198, 1199 [2013]). The homeowner testified that he heard someone on the second floor, he observed that boxes and hangers in a closet in the bedroom had been moved, and he encountered defendant on the second floor, without permission to be in the house. When he asked defendant what he was doing, defendant responded “nothing,” then ran out of the house. Text messages between defendant and his codefendant can be interpreted as indicating that they intended to rob houses for money on the day in question (see People v Pierce, 106 AD3d at 1200). Defendant’s statement to police indicates that he entered the house through the back door, spent three or four minutes going through the rooms on the first floor, then went upstairs. In his statement, he admitted that his intent in going into the house was to get money to support his drug addiction. In both his statement and testimony, he acknowledged that he fled when confronted by the homeowner, discarded his red hat and red shirt in a creek, and was wearing a black shirt when found by police. His flight and purposely changing his clothing to avoid detection can be considered as evidence of consciousness of guilt (see People v Bell, 108 AD3d 795, 797 [2013], lv denied 22 NY3d 995 [2013]). Defendant testified that he knocked on the back door while attempting to obtain signatures on a political petition, thought he heard someone say that he could come in, was looking for that person inside the house to get a signature, and denied that he intended to take any money or property when he entered the[*1411] house. Deferring to the jury’s credibility findings, which clearly did not credit defendant’s trial testimony concerning his intent, the weight of the evidence supports the verdict (see People v Ostrander, 46 AD3d at 1218; People v Haight, 19 AD3d 714, 716 [2005], lv denied 5 NY3d 806 [2005]).

County Court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress the homeowner’s showup identification of defendant. Defendant was not handcuffed when the homeowner saw him, but was sitting or leaning on the bumper of a police car next to a uniformed officer and another police officer who was not in uniform. The homeowner immediately identified defendant and noted that he had changed his clothing. This procedure was not unduly suggestive (see People v Harris, 64 AD3d 883, 884 [2009], lv denied 13 NY3d 836 [2009]). Although witnesses at the hearing differed as to whether the identification occurred within 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes after defendant fled the house, there is no bright line rule to determine the timeliness of a showup (see People v Brisco, 99 NY2d 596, 597 n [2003]). The showup here was reasonable considering that it “took place at the scene of the crime, within an hour of the commission of the crime, and in the context of a continuous, ongoing investigation” (id. at 597; see People v Tillman, 57 AD3d 1021, 1023 [2008]). Thus, defendant was not entitled to suppression of the identification.

County Court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress his oral and written statements. The statements were preceded by a knowing and voluntary waiver of his Miranda rights. The investigator’s comments indicating that defendant might be permitted to participate in drug court if he confessed, and that it would benefit him to talk, did not constitute fundamentally unfair or deceptive practices that render defendant’s statements involuntary (see People v Wolfe, 103 AD3d 1031, 1035 [2013], lv denied 21 NY3d 1021 [2013]). Voluntariness, including as related to claims of impairment by a physical condition or medication, must be determined from the totality of the circumstances (see People v Balram, 47 AD3d 1014, 1014 [2008], lv denied 10 NY3d 859 [2008]; People v Hughes, 280 AD2d 694, 695 [2001], lv denied 96 NY2d 801 [2001]). The statements were not rendered involuntary just because defendant told the investigator that he had taken prescription drugs that day, considering that hearing testimony and the videotaped interview established that defendant was lucid and coherent and even pointed out an error in the written statement (see People v Balram, 47 AD3d at 1015). Thus, suppression was not warranted.

Defendant did not preserve his current challenge to the jury[*1412] charge, as he did not object to the charge as given or request a different charge on circumstantial evidence (see People v Davis, 105 AD3d 1095, 1097 [2013], lv denied 21 NY3d 1003 [2013]). To the extent that defendant argues that his counsel was ineffective for failing to object or request a different charge, his argument is unavailing. The charge was proper because the People relied on both direct and circumstantial evidence (see People v Barnes, 50 NY2d 375, 379-380 [1980]; People v Pope, 96 AD3d 1231, 1235 [2012], lv denied 20 NY3d 1064 [2013]). Similarly, while counsel did not object during the prosecutor’s opening statement or summation or to certain questions that the People asked defendant on cross-examination, rendering such issues unpreserved, counsel was not ineffective because most of those objections would not have been successful. Additionally, counsel could have strategically chosen not to object to certain of the other questions or statements. We cannot find counsel ineffective for failing to file a speedy trial motion, inasmuch as the record does not contain information indicating that such a motion would have been successful.

We have considered defendant’s remaining contentions and find them unavailing.

Rose, Egan Jr., Devine and Clark, JJ., concur.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.