People v Floyd
2012 NY Slip Op 03855 [95 AD3d 1138]
May 15, 2012
Appellate Division, Second Department
As corrected through Wednesday, June 27, 2012


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

[*1]Lynn W. L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (Allegra Glashausser of counsel), for appellant.

Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Rhea A. Grob ofcounsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Gary, J.),rendered April 9, 2010, convicting him of murder in the second degree, manslaughter in thesecond degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon a jury verdict,and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant contends that his right to a public trial was violated when the Supreme Courtallegedly temporarily excluded his mother from the courtroom during the initial portion of thevoir dire because there was only available seating for the prospective jurors who were to becalled into the courtroom (see Presley v Georgia, 558 US —, 130 S Ct 721 [2010];People v Martin, 16 NY3d 607,609 [2011]). However, the record reflects that the defendant's claim that his right to a public trialwas violated is unpreserved for appellate review (see People v Borukhova, 89 AD3d 194, 225 [2011]; People v George, 79 AD3d 1148[2010], lv granted 16 NY3d 895 [2011]; People v Alvarez, 76 AD3d 1098 [2010], lv granted 16NY3d 827 [2011]), and we decline to review it in the exercise of our interest of justicejurisdiction (see CPL 470.05 [2]; People v Borukhova, 89 AD3d at 225).

The defendant further argues that his conviction of felony murder was against the weight ofthe evidence. We disagree. In fulfilling our responsibility to conduct an independent review ofthe weight of the evidence (see CPL 470.15 [5]; People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342 [2007]), we nevertheless accordgreat deference to the jury's opportunity to view the witnesses, hear the testimony, and observedemeanor (see People v Mateo, 2 NY3d 383, 410 [2004], cert denied 542 US 946[2004]; People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987]). Upon reviewing the record here,we are satisfied that the verdict of guilt was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v Romero, 7 NY3d 633[2006]).

Contrary to the defendant's further contention, the evidence was legally sufficient to supporthis conviction of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (see Penal Law§ 265.03 [3]; People v White,75 AD3d 109, 121 [2010]). Moreover, upon our independent review pursuant to CPL 470.15(5), we are satisfied that the verdict of guilt as to that conviction was not against the weight of theevidence (see People v Romero, 7NY3d 633 [2006]). Rivera, J.P., Chambers, Roman and Miller, JJ., concur.


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.