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People v. Morgan

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 22, 1993
191 A.D.2d 649 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)

Opinion

March 22, 1993

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Harbater, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

Contrary to the arguments of the defendant, we find that the suppression court properly refused to suppress evidence of a complainant's identification of him as the perpetrator of a burglary shortly after the crime occurred, and of her later in-court identification testimony. The police officers, who did not know the extent or seriousness of the complainant's injuries, were justified in conducting a showup at her house about 40 minutes after the crime occurred in the interest of obtaining a prompt and reliable identification (see, People v. Whitney, 158 A.D.2d 734; People v. Moore, 156 A.D.2d 394; People v. Lewis, 123 A.D.2d 716, 719). Moreover, although the defendant was in the company of police officers in uniform and in plainclothes, the showup was not unnecessarily suggestive under the circumstances (see, People v. Whitney, supra; People v. Lewis, supra).

Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the People (see, People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620), we find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt of seven counts of assault in the second degree, one count of assault in the third degree, and attempted murder in the second degree arising out of his altercation with three police officers. The record clearly shows that the police officers whom the defendant attacked suffered physical injuries within the meaning of the statute; i.e., impairment of physical condition or substantial pain (Penal Law § 10.00; § 120.05 [2], [3], [6]; § 120.00 [1]). Each of the officers missed several days of work as a result of the injuries inflicted by the defendant during the struggle with them, each received medical treatment, and each suffered pain (see, People v. Crews, 159 A.D.2d 630; People v. Lundquist, 151 A.D.2d 505; People v. Talibon, 138 A.D.2d 426). Moreover, it could be readily inferred that the defendant intended to cause the death of Officer Mango from his action of thrusting a knife toward the officer's midsection as well as from the totality of the circumstances (see, People v Williams, 160 A.D.2d 753; People v. Nelson, 110 A.D.2d 858). We also find that the evidence was legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt on the remaining counts beyond a reasonable doubt.

We further find that the sentence imposed was not excessive.

We have reviewed the defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit. Mangano, P.J., Sullivan, Balletta and O'Brien, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Morgan

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 22, 1993
191 A.D.2d 649 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)
Case details for

People v. Morgan

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. CHRISTOPHER MORGAN…

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

Date published: Mar 22, 1993

Citations

191 A.D.2d 649 (N.Y. App. Div. 1993)
595 N.Y.S.2d 237

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