People v. O'Brien
Opinion of the Court
—Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Tomei, J.), rendered June 5, 1997, convicting him of murder in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution (see, People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620, 621), we find that
Contrary to the defendant’s contention, he was not entitled to an adverse inference charge regarding the prosecution’s failure to produce the victim’s clothing at the trial. There was no evidence that the police recovered the clothing at the crime scene, or otherwise had it within their possession and control (see, People v James, 93 NY2d 620; People v Washington, 86 NY2d 189; People v Reedy, 70 NY2d 826). Moreover, the defendant’s belated claim of prejudice, made near the end of the trial, was unpersuasive (see, People v Riviere, 173 AD2d 871).
The defendant’s remaining contentions are without merit. Bracken, J. P., Ritter, Altman and McGinity, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.