In re Joshua J.
Opinion of the Court
Appeal from an order of the Family Court of Chemung County (Castellino, J.), entered December 6, 1994, which granted petitioner’s application, in a proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 3, to adjudicate respondent a juvenile delinquent.
We reject the contention that petitioner failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that respondent engaged in conduct which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime (Family Ct
Fundamentally, Family Court serves as the trier of fact, and its credibility determinations are to be accorded great weight (see, Matter of Tiffany H., 216 AD2d 738, 739; Matter of Gay-lord II., 106 AD2d 823, 824-825). Conferring the appropriate deference to Family Court’s resolution of the conflicts in the hearing testimony and viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to petitioner (see, supra), we are constrained to conclude that the evidence established respondent’s commission of conduct constituting the crime of criminal mischief in the fourth degree (see, Penal Law § 145.00 [1]) by the requisite standard of proof. We are similarly unpersuaded that Family Court abused its discretion in refusing to substitute a finding that respondent is a person in need of supervision for the finding of juvenile delinquency (see, Family Ct Act § 311.4).
Mikoll, J. P., Crew III, Yesawich Jr. and Spain, JJ., concur. Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.