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ALTHOUGH THERE WAS PROOF DEFENDANT WAS AWARE THE CO-DEFENDANT POSSESSED A WEAPON, THERE WAS NO PROOF DEFENDANT ACTED AS AN ACCOMPLICE IN THE CO-DEFENDANT’S POSSESSION OF A WEAPON; DEFENDANT’S CONVICTION OF CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON UNDER AN ACCOMPLICE THEORY WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing defendant’s conviction and dismissing the indictment, determined that, although the proof demonstrated defendant’s awareness that the co-defendant possessed a firearm, that awareness alone did not give rise to accomplice liability for the co-defendant’s criminal possession of a weapon: Defendant was convicted after a four-day trial. The Third Department held the conviction was not supported by the weight of the evidence:

We agree with defendant that his conviction is against the weight of the evidence. … [T]he jury could rely on testimony by the People’s witnesses describing defendant’s conduct during the incident as evidence that defendant was aware the codefendant possessed the subject handgun before the codefendant displayed it to those witnesses … . Still, accessorial liability requires evidence directed at the equally important actus reus element, i.e., that ” ‘the accomplice must have intentionally aided the principal in bringing forth a result’ ” … . Here, even though “defendant’s conduct suggested that he may have known that [the codefendant] had a gun, there was no proof that . . . defendant solicited, requested, commanded, importuned, or intentionally aided him to possess the gun” … . What defendant did or said in furtherance of the codefendant’s possession of the subject handgun was left to the jurors’ imaginations … . Such speculation cannot be the basis for defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt … . People v Goodman, 2024 NY Slip Op 05249, Third Dept 10-24-24

Practice Point: To be convicted of a co-defendant’s criminal possession of a weapon under an accomplice theory, the proof must demonstrate the defendant solicited, requested, commanded, importuned or intentionally aided the co-defendant to possess the gun (in addition to the mens rea, the actus reus must be proven).

 

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