You are here: / / Displaying What Appeared to Be a Firearm to Someone Other than the Robbery...

Displaying What Appeared to Be a Firearm to Someone Other than the Robbery Victim During Flight from the Robbery Scene Supported Second Degree Robbery Conviction

After noting that merely telling the cashier he had a gun was not enough to meet the criteria for displaying a firearm in the course of a robbery, the Third Department determined that defendant’s “displaying” of what “appeared to be” a firearm to someone other than the victim of the robbery, as he was fleeing from the store he robbed, was sufficient to support his conviction for robbery in the second degree:

To prove the display element, “[t]he People must show that the defendant consciously displayed something that could reasonably be perceived as a firearm, with the intent of forcibly taking property, and that the victim actually perceived the display” … . While the object displayed need not in fact be a firearm …, “it must appear to the victim by sight, touch or sound that he [or she] is threatened by a firearm” …. The display requirement “cannot be read so broadly as to include mere statements that a robber is armed with a gun” … . While such statements can give meaning to a robber’s otherwise ambiguous actions, such as “a hand consciously concealed in clothing” …, “words alone will not constitute a display of what appears to be a firearm” … .

Here, the cashier testified that defendant said the word “gun” when demanding that she turn over the money, but she did not testify to witnessing any action on his part that would constitute a display of a firearm, nor did she testify that she believed he possessed a firearm. Thus, her testimony is insufficient to establish that defendant displayed a firearm during the robbery. But the inquiry does not end there. Although several cases address the issue as whether the victim perceived the gun …, the statute does not mention to whom the apparent weapon must be displayed (see Penal Law § 160.10 [2] [b]; …). The language of the statute — namely, that the display can occur in the course of “immediate flight” from the robbery and not just during the commission thereof — implies that the display may be directed at an individual other than the victim of the robbery, with the implication that the apparent weapon must be displayed for the purpose of allowing the defendant to deter someone from attempting to either recover possession of the stolen property or impede the defendant’s escape (Penal Law § 160.10 [2] [b]). People v Colon, 2014 NY Slip Op 02626, 3rd Dept 4-17-14

 

You might also like
THE AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE WAS NOT A DEFENSE TO THE COMPLAINT, THE COMPLAINT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED, RATHER, THE ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN STAYED (THIRD DEPT).
COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL APPLIED TO THE OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES’ (OPWDD’S) ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS WHICH FOUND PETITIONER WAS NOT GUILTY OF SUPPLYING MARIJUANA TO A RESIDENT OF A GROUP HOME FOR PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES, THE SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS BY THE JUSTICE CENTER FOR THE PROTECTION OF PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS WERE BOUND BY THE FINDINGS OF THE OPWDD ARBITRATION (THIRD DEPT).
CITY DID NOT VIOLATE THE PUBLIC USE DOCTRINE AND COMPLIED WITH THE EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEDURE LAW AND THE STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT (SEQRA) IN APPROVING THE TAKING OF LAND FOR A BICYCLE-PEDESTRIAN TRAIL (THIRD DEPT).
THE CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS MADE WITH APARTMENT OWNERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS BY THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF HOMELESS SERVICES (DHS) DID NOT CREATE “ILLUSORY TENANCIES” SUCH THAT THE PREVIOUSLY HOMELESS TENANTS WERE ENTITLED TO VACANCY LEASES WHEN THE DHS CONTRACTS WERE TERMINATED (SECOND DEPT).
DEFENSE COUNSEL ALLOWED EVIDENCE PRECLUDED BY A SANDOVAL RULING TO COME IN, AND DID NOT OBJECT TO HEARSAY WHICH REFUTED DEFENDANT’S ALIBI; DEFENDANT DID NOT RECEIVE EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL; NEW TRIAL ORDERED (THIRD DEPT).
DIFFERENT PURPOSES OF THE TERMS “LOSS OF WAGE-EARNING CAPACITY” AND “WAGE-EARNING CAPACITY” EXPLAINED.
PARENTS REMEDIED THE FILTHY CONDITIONS OF THE HOME AND MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO LIVE WITH GRANDPARENTS, WHO AGREED TO SUPERVISE AND HELP THE PARENTS, FAMILY COURT’S AWARD OF CUSTODY TO AN AUNT REVERSED.
IF A GOVERNMENT AGENCY TO WHICH A FOIL REQUEST HAS BEEN MADE DOES NOT POSSESS ANY RESPONSIVE DOCUMENTS, THE AGENCY MUST PROVIDE A CERTIFICATION TO THAT EFFECT (THIRD DEPT). ​

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Defendant’s Statement that He Was Thinking About Talking to an Attorney,... Aunt Met Her Burden of Establishing Extraordinary Circumstances Overcoming Mother’s...