Criminal Law · MBE-tested
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Fernando Rodriguez, Appellant
250 A.D.2d 478672 N.Y.S.2d 701·New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division·1998·NY
Brief incoming
Hand-reviewed Bluebook brief (procedural posture, facts, issue, holding, reasoning, dissent) ships once the AI generation pipeline runs through this case. Join the waitlist to get notified when 1L briefs go live.
Opinion
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Fernando Rodriguez, Appellant.
[672 NYS2d 701]
[MAJORITY]
—Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (John Collins, J.), rendered January 12, 1996, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 20 years to life, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant’s challenge to the court’s reasonable doubt instruction is unpreserved for appellate review as a matter of law, and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. Were we to review it, we would find that although “[t]he preferred phrasing to convey the concept and degree of reasonable doubt is illustrated in the Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions”, (People v Cubino, 88 NY2d 998, 1000), the charge, as a whole, conveyed the proper standard concerning the People’s burden of proving defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (supra, at 1000).
We perceive no abuse of sentencing discretion. Concur— Milonas, J. P., Rosenberger, Nardelli, Wallach and Rubin, JJ.