People v Armstead
2014 NY Slip Op 04504 [118 AD3d 903]
June 18, 2014
Appellate Division, Second Department
As corrected through Wednesday, July 30, 2014


[*1]
 The People of the State of New York,Respondent,
v
Tareef Armstead, Also Known as Tareef J. Armstead,Appellant.

Lynn W.L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (William A. Loeb of counsel), for appellant.

Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M. Castellano,Nicoletta J. Caferri, and Nancy Fitzpatrick Talcott of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County(Kron, J.), rendered January 13, 2012, convicting him of attempted murder in the seconddegree, assault in the first degree, and reckless endangerment in the first degree, upon ajury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The Supreme Court properly permitted the prosecutor to present evidence at trial andto comment on that evidence both in opening and closing statements regarding ashooting that occurred just minutes prior to the shooting that the defendant was chargedwith committing. This evidence was relevant, as it served to provide necessarybackground information and to complete the narrative of events leading up to the secondshooting (see People v Scarola, 71 NY2d 769, 777 [1988]). Contrary to thedefendant's contention, the rule prohibiting the admission into evidence of a defendant'suncharged criminal or immoral conduct is not applicable (see People vVentimiglia, 52 NY2d 350 [1981]; People v Molineux, 168 NY 264 [1901]),because the defendant was never implicated in the commission of the first shooting(see People v Kyser, 183 AD2d 238, 242 [1992]). Indeed, the Supreme Courtrepeatedly gave a proper limiting instruction as to the purpose of this evidence. Balkin,J.P., Chambers, Cohen and Duffy, JJ., concur.


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