Torts · MBE-tested
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Martin Finger, Appellant
304 A.D.2d 431757 N.Y.S.2d 436·New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division·2003·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 Martin Finger, Appellant.
[757 NYS2d 436]
[MAJORITY]
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Joseph Cerbone, J.), rendered August 19, 1999, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree, escape in the second degree and criminal mischief in the fourth degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to consecutive terms of three years and 2 to 4 years to run concurrently with a term of one year, unanimously affirmed.
The court was not required to conduct a “searching inquiry” since defendant did not proceed pro se, but merely participated in the defense of his case by cross-examining, or conducting a portion of the cross-examination of, a few of the prosecution witnesses (see People v Cabassa, 79 NY2d 722, 730-731 [1992], cert denied sub nom. Lind v New York, 506 US 1011 [1992]; People v Johnson, 251 AD2d 183 [1998], lv denied 92 NY2d 950 [1998]; People v Timmons, 199 AD2d 8 [1993], lv denied 83 NY2d 811 [1994]). The court’s warning that defendant would be better served by having counsel conduct the entire defense sufficed to protect defendant’s interests. Concur — Andrias, J.P., Saxe, Lerner, Friedman and Marlow, JJ.