People v. Lucatuorto
Opinion of the Court
—Judgment unanimously affirmed. Memorandum: Defendant failed to preserve for our review her contention that County Court erred in requiring her to forfeit life insurance proceeds upon her conviction of criminally negligent homicide in connection with her husband’s death. Moreover, the record fails to support defendant’s contention that the court awarded those proceeds to the victim’s family. Defendant contends that her statements should be suppressed because she was taken illegally from her residence without an arrest warrant (see, Payton v New York, 445 US 573). That contention is raised for the first time on appeal and therefore is not preserved for our review (see, CPL 470.05 [2]). In any event, it is lacking in merit. Contrary to defendant’s contention, the court did not err in determining that certain statements were made before defendant was in custody (see, People v Centano, 76 NY2d 837; People v Yukl, 25 NY2d 585, 589, rearg denied 26 NY2d 883, cert denied 400 US 851) and that the inculpatory statements were made after a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of her rights (see, People v Williams, 62 NY2d 285, 288). Great weight must be accorded the finding of the suppression court that defendant’s will was not overborne by psychological pressure, and that finding is not clearly erroneous (see, People v Prochilo, 41 NY2d 759, 761; see also, People v Linderberry, 215 AD2d 867, 868-869, lv denied 86 NY2d 844).
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People (see, People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620, 621), we conclude that the evidence is legally sufficient to support the conviction of criminally negligent homicide (see, People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495). Furthermore, although a different view of the evidence would not have been unreasonable, we decline to set aside the verdict as against the weight of the evidence because the record does not reflect that “the trier of fact has failed to give the evidence the weight it should be accorded” (People v Bleakley, supra, at 495).
Defendant contends that the court erred in admitting the testimony of the People’s expert who did not perform the
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.