New York Court of Appeals, 1981

People v. Glasper

New York Court of Appeals · Decided February 17, 1981

52 N.Y.2d 970; 420 N.E.2d 80; 438 N.Y.S.2d 282; 1981 N.Y. LEXIS 2216

Cases that cite this one

100 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

People v. Holmes (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1991)
People v. Potenza (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1983)
Gaiter v. Lord (District Court, E.D. New York 1996)
People v. Duncan (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1998)
People v. Johnson (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1992)
People v. White (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1991)
People v. Jackson (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1991)
People v. Hendricks (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1990)
People v. Lee Jock (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1985)
People v. Cox (New York Supreme Court 1985)
People v. Moses (N.Y. 1984)
People v. Moses (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1983)
People v. Toussaint (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2010)
People v. Reome (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2009)
People v. Pierre (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
People v. Benavides (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2005)
People v. Lind (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2005)
People v. Warren (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2005)
People v. Elhadi (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2003)
People v. Pace (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2003)
People v. Kim (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
People v. Pierre (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
People v. Besser (N.Y. 2001)
People v. Arevalo (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2001)
People v. Spencer (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2000)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

Contrary to defendant’s contention, there was sufficient independent evidence to corroborate the testimony of the accomplice. Although corroborative evidence must be truly independent, and may not draw its probative value from the accomplice testimony (People v Hudson, 51 NY2d 233), it need not itself prove commission of the crime. Rather, it is sufficient if the corroborative evidence tends to connect the defendant to the crime so as to reasonably satisfy the jury that the accomplice is telling the truth (e.g., People v Cunningham, 48 NY2d 938, 940).

Here, the corroborative evidence independently established that the accomplice had participated in the criminal enterprise, and that defendant was in the company of the accomplice prior to and after the crimes occurred. In *972addition, a portion of a distinctive handkerchief worn by one of the perpetrators was found, partially burned, near a dumpster by defendant’s residence. Finally, defendant’s departure for Detroit and his statement that there was “some trouble,” if interpreted by the fact finder as flight and an admission of guilt, respectively (cf. People v Rumble, 45 NY2d 879, 880), would also constitute corroborative evidence. Cumulatively, these items of evidence were sufficient to satisfy the corroboration requirement (see, e.g., People v Hudson, supra; People v Cunningham, supra).

We have examined defendant’s remaining contentions and conclude that none warrants reversal.

Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Meyer concur.

Order affirmed in a memorandum.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.