Opinion
February 23, 1987
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Leahy, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is modified, on the law and as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, by reducing the minimum term of the sentence imposed on the conviction of murder in the second degree from 25 to 20 years, and providing that the sentences imposed on the three convictions shall run concurrently with one another; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant contends that the court erred as a matter of law in refusing to charge the jury that proof of his "mere presence" at the scene of the crime is, by itself, insufficient to warrant any inference that he was a participant in the crime. However, the court's charge adequately set forth the law concerning accessorial liability, and this court has recently held that a defendant is not entitled to that charge in the precise language requested here (see, People v. Compitiello, 118 A.D.2d 720). As long as the court sufficiently explains all the applicable legal principles to the jury, "the Trial Judge [is] not bound to use the specific language requested by defendant's attorney" (People v. Dory, 59 N.Y.2d 121, 129).
The defendant also contends that the sentence imposed is excessive. We agree. The People correctly concede that the imposition of consecutive sentences was illegal (see, People v Walsh, 44 N.Y.2d 631; People v. Anderson, 123 A.D.2d 770; People v Terry, 104 A.D.2d 572). We find, moreover, that the sentence imposed was excessive to the extent indicated. Bracken, J.P., Brown, Rubin and Spatt, JJ., concur.