People v Moise
2003 NY Slip Op 18265 [1 AD3d 464]
November 10, 2003
Appellate Division, Second Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, January 28, 2004


The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Horad Moise, Appellant.

—Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Ruchelsman, J.), rendered December 12, 2000, convicting him of robbery in the first degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant contends that the prosecutor's race-neutral explanation for the peremptory challenge to one of the prospective jurors was pretextual and should have been rejected by the trial court. However, a trial court's conclusion that a facially race-neutral explanation is not pretextual should be accorded great deference on appeal (see Hernandez v New York, 500 US 352 [1991]; People v Wilson, 278 AD2d 519 [2000]), and we find no basis on this record to disturb the finding of the trial court.

The sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v Suitte, 90 AD2d 80 [1982]).

The defendant's remaining contentions are either unpreserved for appellate review, without merit, or do not require reversal of the judgment. Goldstein, J.P., Adams, Townes and Mastro, JJ., concur.