| People v Symonds |
| 2014 NY Slip Op 00740 [114 AD3d 456] |
| February 6, 2014 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| The People of the State of New York,
Respondent, v Robert Symonds, Appellant. |
—[*1]
Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Orrie A. Levy of counsel), for
respondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Martin Marcus, J., at dismissal motion; Peter Benitez, J., at jury trial and sentencing), rendered November 17, 2009, convicting defendant of murder in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 25 years to life, unanimously affirmed.
The verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 348-349 [2007]). Defendant's assertion that the DNA evidence against him could have been the product of crime scene contamination is speculative. Moreover, there was additional circumstantial evidence connecting defendant to the crime.
After a thorough hearing, the motion court properly declined to dismiss the indictment on the ground of prearrest delay (see People v Taranovich, 37 NY2d 442, 445 [1975]). Although the delay was lengthy, it was satisfactorily explained and was a permissible exercise of prosecutorial discretion (see People v Decker, 13 NY3d 12 [2009]). We find defendant's claim that he was prejudiced by the delay unpersuasive. Concur—Sweeny, J.P., Andrias, Freedman, Richter and Clark, JJ.