People v. Davis
People v. Davis
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Perry Davis stands convicted on charges of burglary and grand larceny, both in the third degree, arising from the looting of an office equipment store on Main Street in the City of Buffalo. The judgment of conviction was unanimously affirmed, without opinion, by the Appellate Division. The primary issue on appeal is whether the circumstantial evidence adduced by the People at trial is legally sufficient to support the conviction. We believe that it is and would affirm the order of the Appellate Division.
In the early morning hours of May 14, 1974, a caretaker who lived in a basement apartment within the burglarized
A conviction based exclusively upon circumstantial evidence may be sustained only if the hypothesis of guilt flows naturally from the facts proved, and is consistent with them, and the facts proved exclude to a moral certainty every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. (E.g., People v Benzinger, 36 NY2d 29, 32; People v Cleague, 22 NY2d 363, 365-366; see, also, People v Von Weme, 41 NY2d 584.) "In the end, it is a question whether common human experience would lead a reasonable man, putting his mind to it, to reject or accept the inferences asserted for the established facts.” (People v Wachowicz, 22 NY2d 369, 372.) This conviction amply meets the relevant standards. Defendant was observed at the crime scene by officers responding immediately to a report of a crime in progress. Defendant’s hand was badly cut and his blood type matched that found inside the premises and on the stolen equipment. He was the only person in the area and the authenticity of his claim of being en route to a hospital was negated by the fact that the store was not situated on a direct route between the hospital and the location of the alleged fight, although defendant was familiar with the area.
Further, it was not error for the court to deny defendant a requested bill of particulars for information with respect to the composition, attendance and vote of the Grand Jury that indicted him, as well as the nature of the legal advice furnished to the Grand Jury by the prosecution and the court. "The sole function of a bill of particulars is to define more specifically the crime or crimes charged in the indictment, or,
Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.
Chief Judge Breitel and Judges Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Cooke concur.
Order affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.