| People v Romero |
| 2012 NY Slip Op 08786 [101 AD3d 560] |
| December 20, 2012 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v CesarRomero, Appellant. |
—[*1] Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Beth Fisch Cohen of counsel), andPatterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, New York (James L. Kerwin of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Daniel Conviser, J.), rendered October 5,2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of burglary in the second degree, and sentencinghim, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of 11 years, unanimously affirmed.
The verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of theevidence (see People v Danielson, 9NY3d 342, 348-349 [2007]). Defendant's criminal intent could be readily inferred from thesurrounding circumstances (see generally People v Mackey, 49 NY2d 274, 278-279[1980]). Defendant's presence in a walk-in closet inside an apartment in the early morning hours,with his hands above his head near a jewelry box, provided ample evidence that defendantentered the apartment with intent to commit a crime therein. The jury properly rejected theimplausible explanation that defendant offered for his actions (see e.g. People v Jenkins,213 AD2d 279 [1st Dept 1995], lv denied 85 NY2d 974 [1995]).Concur—Andrias, J.P., Saxe, Moskowitz, Freedman and Abdus-Salaam, JJ.