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People v. Williams

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 29, 1995
222 A.D.2d 721 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Opinion

December 29, 1995

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


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

Contrary to the defendant's contention, Payton v New York ( 445 U.S. 573) is inapplicable to the arrest made outside of his home (see, People v Roe, 73 N.Y.2d 1004; People v Hayes, 221 A.D.2d 468; People v Rosario, 186 A.D.2d 598).

In addition, the ruse employed by the detectives to get the defendant to exit his home did not render his arrest unlawful. A detective knocked on the defendant's door and told the woman who answered that there had been an accident involving the defendant's automobile. The defendant voluntarily left his house to investigate. Because the deception was not "so fundamentally unfair as to deny due process" (People v Tarsia, 50 N.Y.2d 1, 11), the hearing court properly denied suppression of identification testimony on that ground (see, People v Roe, supra; People v Coppin, 202 A.D.2d 279; People v Rosario, supra).

The defendant's contention that the trial court erred in allowing a police officer to testify that he arrested the defendant after a conversation with a codefendant who did not testify at trial is unpreserved for appellate review (see, CPL 470.05; People v Valverde, 216 A.D.2d 339; People v Anthony, 179 A.D.2d 765; People v Caldwell, 147 A.D.2d 581; People v Dubois, 137 A.D.2d 706; People v Cummings, 109 A.D.2d 748). In any event, any error was harmless in view of the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt, including the strong identification testimony of the two victims (see, People v Crimmins, 36 N.Y.2d 230; People v Valverde, supra; People v Anthony, supra).

Similarily, any error regarding the prosecutor's opening and summation comments was harmless in view of the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt (see, People v Crimmins, 36 N.Y.2d 230; People v Gagne, 129 A.D.2d 808, 811).

The defendant's sentence was not excessive (see, People v Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80). Sullivan, J.P., Balletta, Miller and O'Brien, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Williams

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 29, 1995
222 A.D.2d 721 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
Case details for

People v. Williams

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. DORPHUS WILLIAMS…

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

Date published: Dec 29, 1995

Citations

222 A.D.2d 721 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
636 N.Y.S.2d 347

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