The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Pedro Santiago, Defendant–Appellant. (2015)

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Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Renee A. White, J.), rendered June 19, 2012, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the first and second degrees, grand larceny in the third and fourth degrees and four counts of criminal mischief in the fourth degree, and sentencing him, as a persistent violent felony offender, to an aggregate term of 25 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v. Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 348–349 [2007] ).   There is no basis for disturbing the jury's credibility determinations.   The evidence supported conclusions that defendant used force to retain control of a stolen van, and not merely to escape or to defend himself (see generally People v. Gordon, 23 NY3d 643, 649–651 [2014] ), and that, under the circumstances of its use, the van constituted a dangerous instrument (see People v. Diaz, 129 A.D.2d 968 [4th Dept 2987], lv denied 70 N.Y.2d 710 [1987] ).

The court's compromise Sandoval ruling, which allowed inquiry into a portion of defendant's extensive record without elicitation of any underlying facts, balanced the appropriate factors and was a proper exercise of discretion (People v. Walker, 83 N.Y.2d 455, 458–459 [1982] ).

We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.

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CLERK