POUGHKEEPSIE – The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court has affirmed a Dutchess County Court’s guilty verdict in a seven-year-old murder in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Donovan Gilliard, 36, was convicted of murder and assault in the stabbing death of Kareem Porter on June 24, 2010.
In appeal, Gilliard claimed his constitutional right to present a defense was violated and that his contention that the evidence was legally insufficient to disprove his justification defense beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Appellate Division, though, dismissed both contentions and affirmed the guilty verdict.
A second man, Vaughn Stokes of Poughkeepsie, was also charged with murder.
