People v. Franklin - Criminal Conviction Affirmation

New York Appellate Division

Filed March 4th, 2026

Detected March 5th, 2026

Summary

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York affirmed a criminal conviction for robbery in the first degree. The court upheld the denial of the defendant's motion to suppress identification testimony, finding the pretrial identification procedures were not unduly suggestive.

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What changed

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department, affirmed the conviction of Edward Franklin for three counts of robbery in the first degree. The court ruled that the trial court properly denied the defendant's motion to suppress pretrial identification testimony. Specifically, the court found that the first complainant's identification was merely confirmatory due to prior familiarity with the defendant, and the photographic array used for the second complainant was not unduly suggestive.

This decision affirms the lower court's judgment and sentence. For legal professionals and criminal defendants, this case reinforces established standards for pretrial identification procedures and the admissibility of such evidence. The ruling indicates that prior familiarity can render an identification merely confirmatory, and photographic arrays will be deemed valid if the individuals depicted have sufficiently similar physical characteristics and the defendant's photograph is not unduly singled out.

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March 4, 2026 Get Citation Alerts Add Note

People v. Franklin

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York

Citations: 2026 NY Slip Op 01221
Docket Number: Ind. No. 2670/17
Opinion
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Cited By (0)
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Combined Opinion

People v Franklin (2026 NY Slip Op 01221)
| People v Franklin |
| 2026 NY Slip Op 01221 |
| Decided on March 4, 2026 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. |

Decided on March 4, 2026
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department
MARK C. DILLON, J.P.
VALERIE BRATHWAITE NELSON
DEBORAH A. DOWLING
SUSAN QUIRK, JJ.
2018-14641
(Ind. No. 2670/17)

*[1]The People of the State of New York, respondent,

Edward Franklin, appellant.**

Justin C. Bonus, Forest Hills, NY, for appellant, and appellant pro se.

Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY (Leonard Joblove, Solomon Neubort, and Jeffrey Eng of counsel), for respondent.

DECISION & ORDER

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Miriam Cyrulnik, J.), rendered October 24, 2018, convicting him of robbery in the first degree (three counts), upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing, of those branches of the defendant's omnibus motion which were to suppress certain identification testimony.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant was charged with, inter alia, three counts of robbery in the first degree in connection with separate incidents in which two complainants were robbed at gunpoint while making food deliveries. Both of the complainants identified the defendant as the perpetrator prior to trial.

The Supreme Court properly denied, after a hearing, those branches of the defendant's omnibus motion which were to suppress the evidence of the complainants' respective pretrial identifications of the defendant in photographs on the ground that those pretrial identification procedures were unduly suggestive (see People v Rodriguez, 79 NY2d 445, 451). Contrary to the defendant's contention, the first complainant was sufficiently familiar with the defendant prior to the robberies such that the complainant was impervious to suggestiveness, and the complainant's pretrial identification of the defendant from two photographs was merely confirmatory (see People v Conry, 230 AD3d 596, 597; People v Fields, 212 AD3d 648, 649). With regard to the second complainant, the photographic array from which this complainant identified the defendant was not unduly suggestive, as the physical characteristics of the individuals depicted were sufficiently similar and "the composition of the defendant's photograph was not so dissimilar to the other photographs as to 'create a substantial likelihood that the defendant would be singled out for identification'" (People v Blount, 176 AD3d 1092, 1093 [internal quotation marks omitted], quoting People v Johnson, 165 AD3d 1168, 1170; see People v Thomas, 164 AD3d 619, 621).

The defendant's challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence is unpreserved for appellate review (see CPL 470.05[2]; People v Hawkins, 11 NY3d 484, 492). In any event, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution (see People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620), we [2]find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, in fulfilling our responsibility to conduct an independent review of the weight of the evidence (see* CPL 470.15[5]), we nevertheless accord great deference to the jury's opportunity to view the witnesses, hear the testimony, and observe demeanor (see People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 349; People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495). Upon reviewing the record here, we are satisfied that the verdict of guilt was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v Danielson, 9 NY3d at 349).

The defendant's remaining contentions, including those raised in his pro se supplemental brief, are unpreserved for appellate review and, in any event, without merit.

DILLON, J.P., BRATHWAITE NELSON, DOWLING and QUIRK, JJ., concur.

ENTER:

Darrell M. Joseph

Clerk of the Court