Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Fernando Rodriguez, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1998-05-19
Citations: 250 A.D.2d 478
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Fernando Rodriguez, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 250
Pages: 478–479

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Fernando Rodriguez, Appellant.
[672 NYS2d 701]

Opinion:
—Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (John Collins, J.), rendered January 12, 1996, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 20 years to life, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant's challenge to the court's reasonable doubt instruction is unpreserved for appellate review as a matter of law, and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. Were we to review it, we would find that although "[t]he preferred phrasing to convey the concept and degree of reasonable doubt is illustrated in the Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions", (People v Cubino, 88 NY2d 998, 1000), the charge, as a whole, conveyed the proper standard concerning the People's burden of proving defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (supra, at 1000).
We perceive no abuse of sentencing discretion. Concur— Milonas, J. P., Rosenberger, Nardelli, Wallach and Rubin, JJ.