People v. Liebert

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Felice Shea, J.), rendered February 11, 1991, convicting defendant, after jury trial, of criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and resisting arrest, and sentencing him to consecutive 1-year prison terms for the possession of stolen property and possession of a weapon convictions, and to a concurrent 1-year term for resisting arrest conviction, unanimously affirmed. The trial court gave a fair and balanced interested witness charge by instructing that defendant was an interested witness as a matter of law and that the jury was free to find, as a matter of fact, that any of the prosecution’s witnesses were also interested witnesses (People v Bowden, 198 AD2d 39). While defendant’s testimony that he was coerced into making a written confession could potentially subject the police officers to disciplinary and perjury charges and civil law suits, it nevertheless provided no basis for singling them out as interested witnesses as a matter of law (see, People v Pizarro, 190 AD2d 634, lv denied 81 NY2d 1018). Concur—Ellerin, J. P., Ross, Williams and Tom, JJ.