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People v. Kersch

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 7, 1987
135 A.D.2d 570 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

Opinion

December 7, 1987

Appeal from the County Court, Suffolk County (Namm, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant failed to preserve for appellate review the question of whether the trial court erred in refusing to charge the jury on the defense of justification as it applied to the offenses of manslaughter in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide. Defense counsel neither requested the repetition of the justification charge as to those offenses nor excepted to its absence (see, CPL 470.05; People v Thomas, 50 N.Y.2d 467). Similarly, by failing to interpose an objection to closure of the courtroom during the court's charge to the jury, the defendant waived that objection (see, People v Boyd, 64 A.D.2d 668).

The trial court properly declined to review the Grand Jury minutes following suppression of the defendant's oral statement to the police. The statement was "evidence competent prima facie, rendered inadmissible only by extrinsic, subsequent proof. Evidence of the latter kind stands sufficient until nullified" (see, People v Oakley, 28 N.Y.2d 309, 312). The subsequent suppression of the statement does not invalidate the conclusion of the Grand Jury (see, People v Mauceri, 74 A.D.2d 833).

The evidence adduced before the court at the Cardona hearing properly supported its determination that the defendant's girlfriend had not been acting as an agent of the government when speaking to him. That branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to suppress admissions made by him to her at the jail was, therefore, correctly denied.

Upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the defendant's guilt was proven beyond a reasonable doubt and that the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see, CPL 470.15).

Finally, we decline to exercise our discretion to modify the sentence imposed (see, People v Farrar, 52 N.Y.2d 302, 305; People v Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, 86-87). Mangano, J.P., Bracken, Eiber and Kunzeman, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Kersch

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 7, 1987
135 A.D.2d 570 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)
Case details for

People v. Kersch

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. DONALD J. KERSCH…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Dec 7, 1987

Citations

135 A.D.2d 570 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

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