| People v Rodriguez |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 00051 [47 AD3d 417] |
| January 3, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v GeneRodriguez, Appellant. |
—[*1] Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney, New York (Alice Wiseman of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol Berkman, J.), rendered October 19,2005, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted robbery in the first degree, andsentencing him to a term of seven years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly denied, without a hearing, defendant's motion to suppress identificationtestimony. There was no need for a hearing pursuant to People v Rodriguez (79 NY2d445 [1992]). Defendant never disputed the People's assertion, set forth in opposition todefendant's omnibus motion, that defendant was sufficiently known to the victim so as to renderthe photo identification merely confirmatory (see People v Estrada, 241 AD2d 378, 379[1997], lv denied 91 NY2d 925 [1998]). Furthermore, the People's claims that defendantand the victim worked together for several months, and that the victim knew defendant's firstname, established a relationship familiarity that ensured the identification was not susceptible topolice suggestion. Moreover, the People's allegation that the crime took place at a prearrangedmeeting between defendant and the victim was at odds with any issue of mistaken identity.Finally, the court properly relied on grand jury minutes in confirming the People's allegations(see People v Won, 208 AD2d 393 [1994], lv denied 84 NY2d 1040 [1995]).Concur—Andrias, J.P., Nardelli, Buckley and Catterson, JJ.