New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
One early morning two men wearing ski masks robbed a store. One of them carried a handgun and wore latex gloves and the other was armed with a black shotgun. The robbery happened at around 4:30 A.M., which was half an hour before the store was scheduled to open. A New York DWI Lawyer said the two men came from behind a dumpster at the rear of the store and confronted the two male employees, one unloading a delivery truck and the other taking out the trash. The two employees were directed into the rear of the store and told to lie down in the storeroom. The man with a handgun demanded the cash from the employees and kept watch over them. The other man with the handgun moved to the front of the store where he encountered a female employee, whom he repeatedly punched in the face and then dragged by her hair to the store safe. The man then demanded the female employee to open the store safe. The two men fled with approximately $1,800.
During the investigation, police revealed evidence which led them to conclude the identity of the two men who robbed the store. The first man was charged with multi-count criminal charges. After a jury trial, the man was found guilty of robbery in the first degree, attempted robbery in the first degree, robbery in the second degree, attempted robbery in the second degree and conspiracy in the fourth degree. He was sentenced to an aggregate prison term of 14 years with five years of post release supervision. The man then filed for an appeal.
The man initially argues that the decision was against the weight of the evidence because of a different decision would not have been unreasonable. A New York DWI Lawyer said that based on records, the evidence included the fact that the man had previously worked at the store and bragged to some of his friends that robbing the store would be easy. The female employee, who had worked with the man at the store, testified that when the man in the rear of the store called to the front, the voice sounded like the man.
Further, the evidence indicated that the two men were familiar with the store’s opening procedures, layout and theft prevention techniques. One of the male employees on the day of the incident described the shotgun used which matched the description of a shotgun recently purchased by the man and discovered in his bedroom when police performed a search warrant. The latex gloves were found in the man’s car and another man, who was a friend of the robber, testified that the man admitted in participating in the robbery.
The accused man asserts that the Supreme Court made a mistake in not submitting to the jury the issue of whether his statement to police was voluntary. A Nassau County DWI Lawyer said the man adduces trial evidence and otherwise contends that the statement was involuntarily made and the court must submit such issue to the jury. However, the evidence at trial was not sufficient to raise a factual argument regarding the voluntariness of the accused man’s statements and the Supreme Court properly ruled not to submit the felony issue to the jury.
Based on record, the appellate division further notes that the part of the accused man’s strategy in attempting to show his cooperation and lack of culpability included urging to the jury that he had voluntarily gone to the police station and freely made a statement.
Consequently, the court finds neither an abuse of discretion nor extraordinary situation warranting a reduction of the man’s sentence for the criminal act. The remaining arguments have been considered and found useless.
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