[*2]Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the Justice Court, Village of Port Chester, Westchester County (K. Ritchie, J.), rendered June 14, 2002, convicting her of violating Village of Port Chester Code § 245-1 (A) and New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (9 NYCRR) § 1242.10 (b), and imposing a $2,000 fine.

Judgment of conviction unanimously modified on the law by vacating the sentence imposed and matter remanded to the court below for resentencing; as so modified, affirmed.

Defendant failed to preserve for appellate review any claim that the trial proof was legally insufficient to establish guilt (CPL 470.05 [2]; People v Gray, 86 NY2d 10, 19; People v Mitchell, 293 AD2d 691). In any event, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People, as we must (People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620, 621), we are satisfied that the evidence was legally sufficient to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt and that the verdicts were not against the weight of the evidence (People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495). We also reject defendant's argument that the People were collaterally estopped from charging state and local building code violations based on the same conduct which was the subject of charges dismissed by another court on the ground that defendant, the premises' absentee owner, could not be charged with the derelictions of her tenants. The instant charges were based on conduct occurring subsequent to the previous charges' dismissal and under the authority of code provisions that explicitly impose liability on owners, whether or not in residence, for the conduct proscribed.

However, we note that the accusatory instrument charged defendant only with [*3]single counts of each offense and not with separate violations occurring each day of the period alleged (see People v Fremd, 41 NY2d 372, 376). Thus, the maximum permissible fine is $250 for the Village of Port Chester Code violation and $1,000 for the remaining violation (Executive Law § 382 [2]). In the exercise of our inherent authority to correct an illegal sentence, we vacate the sentence imposed and remand the matter to the court below for resentencing (CPL 470.15 [1]; People v Williams, 87 NY2d 1014, 1015; People v Herne, 295 AD2d 702, 705; People v Fitzgerald, 249 AD2d 630).
Decision Date: September 25, 2003