People v. Respass
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; March 5, 1995; New York; State Appellate Court
The defendant appealed a judgment from the Supreme Court, Queens County, which convicted him of multiple sexual offenses, including first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sexual abuse, and incest. He was sentenced to concurrent terms of 2½ to 7 years for three counts of sexual abuse, with consecutive terms of 8½ to 25 years for the rape conviction and 2½ to 7 years for another sexual abuse count, along with a consecutive term of 1½ to 4 years for incest. The appellate court modified the judgment to make the sentence for incest run concurrently with the sentence for first-degree rape, affirming the judgment as modified. The court found that the issue of the legal sufficiency of the evidence was not preserved for appellate review but concluded that, even if reviewed, the evidence was sufficient to establish the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The court also determined that the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. The court ruled that the defendant was not denied a fair trial by the admission of testimony from the complaining witness regarding her dislike for the defendant due to prior sexual abuse. The defendant had opened the door to this testimony during cross-examination by suggesting that the witness had a motive to fabricate her charges. Additionally, the court acknowledged that the sentences for first-degree rape and incest must run concurrently, as they stemmed from a single act of intercourse. Other contentions raised by the defendant were either unpreserved for appellate review or deemed without merit. The decision was concurred by Justices Balletta, O’Brien, Thompson, and Ritter.