PEOPLE v. BAH (2024)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Erika Edwards, J.), rendered April 11, 2019, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the second degree, and upon his plea of guilty, of burglary in the third degree, and sentencing him to concurrent terms of five years plus five years of postrelease supervision, and 21/212 to 5 years, respectively, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant's claim that he was convicted based on legally insufficient evidence that he intended to steal is unpreserved (see People v. Gray, 86 N.Y.2d 10, 629 N.Y.S.2d 173, 652 N.E.2d 919 [1995]), and we decline to reach it in the interest of justice.  As an alternative holding, we find that the evidence of defendant's intent was legally sufficient, and the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence.  A reasonable juror could have found beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence submitted at trial that defendant was an accomplice in the robbery of the backpack.  The evidence included the victim's testimony that defendant responded with threats to as many as 10 requests by the victim for his backpack and intended to aid his friend in the theft of the backpack.  Further, defendant's conduct in trying to push the victim out of the train while his friend remained inside the train with the victim's backpack supports an inference of defendant's intent to separate the victim from his property (see e.g. People v. Bacote, 107 A.D.3d 641, 967 N.Y.S.2d 727 [1st Dept. 2013], lv denied 21 N.Y.3d 1072, 974 N.Y.S.2d 321, 997 N.E.2d 146 [2013];  People v. Rodriguez, 92 A.D.3d 425, 938 N.Y.S.2d 45 [1st Dept. 2012], lv denied 19 N.Y.3d 966, 950 N.Y.S.2d 118, 973 N.E.2d 216 [2012]).