Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Stanley Torres, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2015-10-20
Citations: 132 A.D.3d 528
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Stanley Torres, Appellant.
Judges: Concur— Gonzalez, P.J., Mazzarelli, Richter and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 132
Pages: 528–529

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Stanley Torres, Appellant.
[17 NYS3d 857]

Opinion:
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Michael Gross, J.), rendered August 6, 2013, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 25 years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly declined to give a jury instruction regarding the voluntariness of defendant's videotaped statement, because there was insufficient evidence to present a factual dispute on the issue (see People v Medina, 93 AD3d 459 [1st Dept 2012], lv denied 19 NY3d 999 [2012]). The evidence cited by defendant, such as his use of drugs the night before his late afternoon interrogation, failed to raise such a dispute or support competing inferences.
The court properly excluded a toxicology report of defendant's blood, taken during his postarrest incarceration at Riker's Island, because defendant did not lay a proper foundation to establish the report's relevance (see People v Bynum, 33 AD3d 376 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 924 [2006]). Defendant's remaining evidentiary arguments are unpreserved and we decline to review them in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we reject them on the merits.
We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.
Concur— Gonzalez, P.J., Mazzarelli, Richter and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.