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In re Carmelo N.

228 A.D.2d 682 Court N.Y. App. Div. Decision date 1996-06-24 English

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p. 682
In the Matter of Carmelo N., a Person Alleged to be a Juvenile Delinquent, Appellant.
[646 NYS2d 21]

After a hearing, the appellant was found to have acted as a lookout for a friend who stole a cellular telephone from the complainant’s car after breaking its front passenger-side window with his fist. As a result, the Family Court determined that the appellant was an accomplice and adjudicated him a juvenile delinquent. On appeal, the appellant contends that the evidence was legally insufficient to establish that he acted as an accomplice. We disagree.

A person’s mere presence at the scene of the crime, even with knowledge of its perpetration, cannot render him or her accessorially liable for the underlying criminal conduct (see, People v Strawder, 124 AD2d 758 , 759; People v Reyes, 82 AD2d 925 ). In this case, however, when viewed in the light most favorable to the presentment agency (see, People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620 ; Matter of Jamal C., 186 AD2d 562 , 563), the evidence was legally sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant acted as a lookout for, and therefore as an

p. 683
accomplice of, his friend (see, People v Roldan, 211 AD2d 366 , affd 88 NY2d 826 ; People v Wooten, 214 AD2d 596 ; People v Vallejo, 173 AD2d 880 , lv denied 78 NY2d 1015 ). Further, the Family Court’s determination in this regard was not against the weight of the evidence (see, CPL 470.15 [5]). Rosenblatt, J. P., Sullivan, Copertino, Santucci and Goldstein, JJ., concur.

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