Opinion
December 27, 2000.
Appeal from Judgment of Supreme Court, Erie County, Rossetti, J. — Murder, 1st Degree.
PRESENT: GREEN, J. P., HAYES, HURLBUTT, KEHOE AND BALIO, JJ.
Judgment unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum:
There is no merit to defendant's contention that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence on the issue of identification. Eyewitnesses identified defendant as the gunman, defendant wore clothing similar to that worn by the gunman, and defendant made inculpatory statements to a cousin within minutes of the crime and, some months later, to fellow inmates. The jury did not fail to give the evidence the weight it should be accorded on the issue of identification ( see, People v. Bleakley , 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495; People v. Owens, 275 A.D.2d 905 [decided Sept. 29, 2000]). The sentence imposed on the conviction of first degree murder, life imprisonment without parole, is not unduly harsh or severe ( see, People v. Maisonet, 265 A.D.2d 835, lv denied 94 N.Y.2d 825).