People v Bonilla
2008 NY Slip Op 04774 [51 AD3d 585]
May 29, 2008
Appellate Division, First Department
As corrected through Wednesday, July 16, 2008


The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
JasonBonilla, Appellant.

[*1]Richard M. Greenberg, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York and Heller EhrmanLLP, New York (Gina M. Parlovecchio of counsel), for appellant.

Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney, New York (Patricia Curran of counsel), forrespondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (William A. Wetzel, J.), rendered March 13,2006, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree (two counts),reckless endangerment in the first degree and resisting arrest, and sentencing him, as a secondviolent felony offender, to an aggregate term of seven years, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly rejected defendant's request for a justification charge since there was noreasonable view of the evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to defendant, that wouldsupport such a charge (see People v Cox, 92 NY2d 1002 [1998]). Such a defense wouldhave called upon the jury to speculate as to an alternative scenario that was not supported by anyevidence. Neither the physical evidence nor any testimony supported such a view.

Defendant's challenge to the court's reasonable doubt charge is unpreserved and we decline toreview it in the interest of justice. The court satisfied its obligation to instruct the jury that thePeople had the burden of proving defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and there was nomode of proceedings error exempt from preservation requirements (see People v Brown, 7 NY3d 880[2006]; People v Agramonte, 87 NY2d 765, 769-770 [1996]; People v Thomas,50 NY2d 467, 472 [1980]). Concur—Lippman, P.J., Tom, Gonzalez, Buckley andRenwick, JJ.


NYPTI Decisions © 2026 is a project of New York Prosecutors Training Institute (NYPTI) made possible by leveraging the work we've done providing online research and tools to prosecutors.

NYPTI would like to thank New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, New York State Senate's Open Legislation Project, New York State Unified Court System, New York State Law Reporting Bureau and Free Law Project for their invaluable assistance making this project possible.

Install the free RECAP extensions to help contribute to this archive. See https://free.law/recap/ for more information.