People v. Cantave
Opinion of the Court
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Aloise, J.), rendered December 15, 2009, convicting him of assault in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant failed to raise any timely objections to the Supreme Court’s Sandoval ruling (see People v Sandoval, 34 NY2d 371 [1974]) and, therefore, to the extent that the defendant now raises such claims, they are not preserved for appellate review (see CPL 470.05 [2]; People v Diaz, 50 AD3d 919 [2008]; People v Quind, 1 AD3d 617 [2003]). In any event, the Supreme Court’s Sandoval ruling which, inter alia, allowed inquiry into the facts underlying the defendant’s previous felony conviction, was not an improvident exercise of discretion (see People v Hayes, 97 NY2d 203, 208 [2002]; People v Sharpe, 87 AD3d 1168 [2011]). The defendant’s felony conviction was relevant to the issue of his credibility because it demonstrated his willingness to put his own interests above those of society (see People v Bennette, 56 NY2d 142, 148 [1982]; People v Brink, 31 AD3d 1139, 1140-1141 [2006]).
The Supreme Court also properly refused to admit a recording of the defendant’s own 911 emergency call into evidence. The circumstances of the defendant’s 911 call did not establish that the call was “[a]n excited utterance . . . made ‘under the immediate and uncontrolled domination of the senses, and during the brief period when consideration of self-interest could not have been brought fully to bear by reasoned reflection’ ” (People v Coward, 292 AD2d 630 [2002], quoting People v Brown, 70 NY2d 513, 518 [1987]; see People v Vasquez, 88 NY2d 561, 579 [1996]). In addition, the recording did not fall under the present
The defendant’s claim that his medical records were improperly redacted to omit a statement that he had been hit in his nose with a gun is unpreserved for appellate review (see CPL 470.05 [2]). In any event, the Supreme Court properly redacted this statement from the medical records because it was not relevant to the defendant’s diagnosis or treatment for a thumb injury and hand laceration (see People v Davis, 95 AD2d 837, 838 [1983]; Passino v DeRosa, 199 AD2d 1017, 1018 [1993]; People v Jackson, 124 AD2d 975 [1986]).
The defendant’s contention that the Supreme Court’s justification charge deprived him of a fair trial is unpreserved for appellate review, as the defendant never objected to the court’s main or supplemental justification charge or requested a correction, amplification, or modification of that charge (see CPL 470.05 [2]; People v Gray, 86 NY2d 10, 19 [1995]; People v Battle, 73 AD3d 939, 940 [2010]). In any event, the charge, taken as a whole, properly instructed the jury as to the defense of justification, and was a correct statement of the law (see People v Fields, 87 NY2d 821, 823 [1995]; People v Battle, 73 AD3d at 940; People v Abreu, 287 AD2d 644 [2001]). Rivera, J.P, Eng, Hall and Sgroi, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.