Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York March 12, 2009 (People v. Plaza)

Kavanagh, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of *1154Ulster County (Bruhn, J.), rendered November 26, 2007, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crime of murder in the second degree.

Defendant was charged with murder in the second degree and manslaughter in the first degree after he was alleged to have assaulted, choked and strangled to death his live-in girlfriend.