| People v Owens |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 08166 [78 AD3d 1509] |
| November 12, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, Fourth Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Antwon Owens,Appellant. |
—[*1] Michael C. Green, District Attorney, Rochester (Stephen X. O'Brien of counsel), forrespondent.
Appeal from a judgment of the Monroe County Court (Frank P. Geraci, Jr., J.), rendered January10, 2007. The judgment convicted defendant, upon a jury verdict, of murder in the first degree.
It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously modified as a matter ofdiscretion in the interest of justice by reducing the sentence to an indeterminate term of incarceration of25 years to life imprisonment and as modified the judgment is affirmed.
Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon a jury verdict of murder inthe first degree (Penal Law § 125.27 [1] [a] [vii]; [b]). The evidence, viewed in the light mostfavorable to the People (see People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620, 621 [1983]), is legally sufficientto support the conviction (see generally People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987])."There was sufficient evidence from which a rational trier of fact could have found that the defendant,with the intent to kill, shot the victim once, causing a wound [that] contributed to his death, during thecourse of, and in furtherance of, [an attempted] robbery" (People v Harrell, 5 AD3d 503, 504 [2004], lv denied 3 NY3d641 [2004]; see People v Garcia, 45AD3d 859 [2007], lv denied 10 NY3d 765 [2008]). Viewing the evidence in light of theelements of the crime as charged to the jury (see People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 349 [2007]), we conclude thatthe verdict is not against the weight of the evidence (see People v VanDyne, 63 AD3d 1681, 1682 [2009], lv denied14 NY3d 845 [2010]; see generally Bleakley, 69 NY2d at 495). Contrary to the contention ofdefendant, County Court properly refused to suppress his statement to the police. The record belies thecontention of defendant that his statement was the product of coercive interrogation techniques thatcreated a substantial risk that he might falsely incriminate himself and thus rendered his statementinvoluntary (see CPL 60.45 [1], [2] [b] [i]; People v Jacques, 158 AD2d 949 [1990],lv denied 75 NY2d 967 [1990]). We agree with defendant, however, that the sentence of lifeimprisonment without parole is unduly harsh and severe. Thus, as a matter of discretion in the interest ofjustice (see CPL 470.15 [6] [b]), we modify the judgment by reducing the sentence to anindeterminate term of incarceration of 25 years to life imprisonment. Present—Scudder, P.J.,Peradotto, Carni, Green and Gorski, JJ.