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People v. Mattocks

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Aug 3, 1987
133 A.D.2d 89 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

Opinion

August 3, 1987

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Shaw, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant contends that the pretrial lineup at which he was identified by the complaining witness was unduly suggestive because he wore an open-necked shirt while the other five participants wore turtleneck shirts, and, further, in that he was 22 years old and the other participants were 17, 18, and 19 years of age, respectively. An examination of the lineup photographs leads us to agree with the hearing court's finding that the lineup was "not tainted in any respect". The differences between the defendant's age and the ages of the standins were not discernible from their appearance. Nor was there any evidence that the complainant had any reason to perceive the defendant's open-collared shirt as significant, particularly in the absence of any mention of shirt style in the victim's description of the perpetrator. There is no requirement that a defendant in a lineup must be surrounded by people nearly identical in appearance (see, United States v. Reid, 517 F.2d 953; People v. Rodriguez, 124 A.D.2d 611), and, in the instant case, there did not exist a substantial likelihood of misidentification (see, Neil v Biggers, 409 U.S. 188).

Additionally, we find that the court's alibi charge, when examined as a whole, sufficiently conveyed to the jury the applicable law regarding the People's burden of proof (see, People v. Colon, 122 A.D.2d 151, lv denied 68 N.Y.2d 810; People v Seabrooks, 120 A.D.2d 691). Moreover, defendant's claim of error with respect to the alibi charge has not been preserved for review.

Lastly, there is no reason to disturb the sentencing court's determination as we do not find the sentence imposed to be excessive under the circumstances. Mollen, P.J., Brown, Weinstein and Rubin, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Mattocks

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Aug 3, 1987
133 A.D.2d 89 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)
Case details for

People v. Mattocks

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. MICHAEL MATTOCKS…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Aug 3, 1987

Citations

133 A.D.2d 89 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

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