The People v. Yusuf Sparks , 29 N.Y.3d 932 ( 2017 )


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  • This memorandum is uncorrected and subject to revision before
    publication in the New York Reports.
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    No. 32
    The People &c.,
    Respondent,
    v.
    Yusuf Sparks,
    Appellant.
    Andrew J. Dalack, for appellant.
    Susan Gliner, for respondent.
    MEMORANDUM:
    The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.
    Defendant was charged with one count of assault in the
    first degree (Penal Law § 120.10 [1]) following a dispute at a
    Manhattan bodega.   Defendant, then age 19, and the victim, a 50-
    year-old man with a long history of substance abuse and criminal
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    - 2 -                         No. 32
    activity, had a verbal exchange inside the bodega after the
    victim provoked defendant.   Based on that affront, defendant
    twice threatened to "murder" the victim, who was in an
    inebriated, stumbling state, before eventually punching him
    inside that store.    In defendant's words, the punch "knocked [the
    victim] out."
    The surveillance footage that was admitted into
    evidence at the jury trial contains images of what happened
    outside the bodega after defendant punched the victim.   In sum,
    after defendant struck the victim, defendant and the victim
    separately left the immediate vicinity of that store on foot.     A
    few minutes later, the footage reflects that defendant re-entered
    the bodega; soon thereafter, the victim returned to the area
    immediately outside that store and stumbled about.   Inside the
    bodega, defendant asked the shopkeeper for a stick,1 but the
    shopkeeper refused that request, saying that the punch was
    "enough for [the victim]."   Defendant, however, told the
    shopkeeper that he was going to walk outside and "knock [the
    victim] out again."
    The surveillance footage reflects that defendant did
    exactly that.   As he walked out of the bodega, defendant struck
    the unsuspecting victim in the face with a milk crate.   The blow
    knocked the victim to the sidewalk, and defendant walked away
    1
    The surveillance footage also captured audio of
    defendant's altercations with the victim.
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    - 3 -                          No. 32
    from that store.   The victim, however, was taken by ambulance to
    a hospital, where he was determined to have a broken nose and
    cheekbone, and where he received potentially life-saving
    treatment for a traumatic brain injury.
    Following the trial, defendant was convicted of the
    lesser included offense of assault in the second degree (Penal
    Law § 120.05 [2]).   On appeal, the Appellate Division affirmed
    the judgment of conviction (132 AD3d 513 [1st Dept 2015]).    A
    Judge of this Court granted defendant leave to appeal (26 NY3d
    1092 [2015]), and we now affirm the Appellate Division order.
    Contrary to defendant's contention, the trial court
    properly refused to instruct the jury on the defense of
    justification.   Viewing the record in the light most favorable to
    defendant, as we must (see People v Watts, 57 NY2d 299, 301
    [1982]), we conclude there is no reasonable view of the evidence
    that would have permitted the factfinder to conclude that
    defendant's conduct was justified (see People v Cox, 92 NY2d
    1002, 1004 [1998]; cf. People v Petty, 7 NY3d 277, 284 [2006]).
    That is, we agree with the People that there is no evidence that
    objectively supports a belief that defendant was in danger of
    being physically harmed by the victim at the time defendant used
    force against him (see Cox, 92 NY2d at 1005; see also People v
    Wesley, 76 NY2d 555, 559 [1990]).2
    2
    To be clear, the
    "justification [defense] is comprised of both
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    Here, after "knocking [the victim] out," defendant was
    able to freely and safely walk away from the bodega.   Moreover,
    there simply is no evidence that, once he returned to the bodega,
    defendant needed to leave that store to strike the victim to
    defend himself.   Even if defendant's trial testimony establishes
    that he actually believed that the victim was lying in wait for
    him with a weapon (see generally Wesley, 76 NY2d at 559), there
    is no reasonable view of the evidence that "a reasonable person
    in . . . defendant's circumstances would have believed" the
    victim to have threatened him with the imminent use of unlawful
    physical force (Umali, 10 NY3d at 425; see Penal Law § 35.15
    [1]). Put simply, the surveillance footage reflects that
    subjective and objective elements. The
    subjective element [in a case such as this
    one] is concerned with whether the defendant
    believed that the use of [physical] force was
    necessary; while under the objective prong,
    the jury must consider whether a reasonable
    person in the defendant's circumstances would
    have believed that [physical] force was
    required. When a defense of justification is
    raised, 'the People must prove beyond a
    reasonable doubt that [the] defendant's
    conduct was not justified' (People v Craig,
    78 NY2d 616, 619 n 1 [1991]). In other
    words, the People must demonstrate beyond a
    reasonable doubt that the defendant did not
    believe [physical] force was necessary or
    that a reasonable person in the same
    situation would not have perceived that
    [physical] force was necessary (see e.g.
    People v Goetz, 68 NY2d 96, 115 [1986])"
    (People v Umali, 10 NY3d 417, 425 [2008]; see
    Wesley, 76 NY2d at 559).
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    defendant's ambush of the victim with the milk crate cannot be
    considered self defense.
    We agree with defendant that the trial court erred in
    adjusting its Sandoval ruling based on defendant's trial
    testimony (cf. People v Fardan, 82 NY2d 638, 645-647 [1993]).          We
    further conclude, however, that the error is harmless.       The
    evidence of defendant's guilt is overwhelming, and there is no
    significant probability that the outcome of the trial would have
    been different in the absence of that error (see generally People
    v Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230, 241-242 [1975]).
    *   *   *    *   *   *   *   *    *      *   *   *   *   *   *     *    *
    Order affirmed, in a memorandum. Chief Judge DiFiore and Judges
    Rivera, Abdus-Salaam, Stein, Fahey, Garcia and Wilson concur.
    Decided March 30, 2017
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Document Info

Docket Number: 32

Citation Numbers: 29 N.Y.3d 932, 73 N.E.3d 354

Filed Date: 3/30/2017

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 1/13/2023