People v. Benitez

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Latella, J.), rendered December 14, 2010, convicting him of robbery in the first degree and robbery in third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law and as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, and a new trial is ordered.

In fulfilling our responsibility to conduct an independent review of the weight of the evidence (see CPL 470.15 [5]; People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342 [2007]), we nevertheless accord great deference to the jury’s opportunity to…