Sentence for Weapons Charge Should Have Been Imposed Concurrently with the Sentence for Manslaughter—No Evidence the Possession of the Weapon Was Unrelated to the Manslaughter

The Second Department determined the sentence for the weapons charge should not run consecutively with the sentence for the manslaughter charge because there was no evidence the weapon was possessed for reasons unrelated to the manslaughter:

The Supreme Court erred in directing that the term of imprisonment imposed on the conviction of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree with the intent to use it unlawfully against another, pursuant to Penal Law § 265.03(1)(b), was to run consecutively to the term of imprisonment imposed on the conviction of manslaughter in the first degree. The evidence adduced at trial did not demonstrate that the defendant possessed the gun with a purpose unrelated to his intent to use it against the victim (see Penal Law § 70.25[2]…). Therefore, the sentence imposed on the conviction of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree with the intent to use it unlawfully against another, pursuant to Penal Law § 265.03(1)(b), must run concurrently with the sentence imposed on the conviction of manslaughter in the first degree. People v Fitzgerald, 2014 NY Slip Op 05649, 2nd Dept 8-6-14