People v Whitsett

Holding The Appellate Division affirmed the conviction for second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon, finding that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict and that the prosecutor’s conduct did not deprive the defendant of a fair trial. The court determined that the grand jury proceeding was not defective and that the identity of the shooter was established by a compelling chain of circumstantial evidence.

The court’s words

The demanding test for dismissal of the indictment based on prosecutorial misconduct was not met here inasmuch as the People did not engage in an overall pattern of willful and pervasive misconduct

2026 NY Slip Op 04579, at the official text

the element of identity was established by a compelling chain of circumstantial evidence that had no reasonable explanation except that defendant was [the shooter]

2026 NY Slip Op 04579, at the official text

the record as a whole fails to disclose that the prosecutor engaged in a flagrant and pervasive pattern of prosecutorial misconduct so as to deprive defendant of a fair trial

2026 NY Slip Op 04579, at the official text