You are here: / / Concise Example of a Weight of the Evidence Review
,

Concise Example of a Weight of the Evidence Review

The First Department reversed defendant’s conviction and dismissed the indictment after a weight of the evidence review. The court found too many inconsistencies in the evidence, especially with respect to the identification of the defendant as the attacker.  The decision is a concise example of the kinds of proof problems which are considered significant under a weight of the evidence analysis:

Here, there were troubling discrepancies in the evidence presented to the jury. Most significantly, the complainant testified that the club was sufficiently well-lit for him to see his assailant’s face while the encounter was ongoing. However, the detective who investigated the incident and interviewed the complainant testified, after having had his recollection refreshed with the DD-5 report he prepared in connection with the investigation, that the complainant told him he “did not have a clear recollection of the suspect because it was somewhat dark” in the Maribella. While the complainant denies he told the detective that, the People do not offer, nor can we perceive of, any reason why the detective would have been untruthful not only on the witness stand, but also in a contemporaneous internal report documenting the investigation.

Further clouding the accuracy of the complainant’s identification of defendant was the photograph he picked out of an array. We acknowledge that the complainant did not represent that the person in the photo he chose was his assailant, but rather that he looked like him. Nevertheless, there is a significant difference in the appearances, especially the complexions, of the people depicted in the two photographs, which calls into question the confidence the complainant had in recalling what his attacker looked like.  People v Diaz, 2014 NY Slip Op 01661, 1st Dept 3-13-14

 

You might also like
THE FOUR-YEAR LOOKBACK CAN BE APPLIED TO DETERMINE WHETHER DEFENDANT ENGAGED IN A FRAUDULENT SCHEME TO DEREGULATE NYC APARTMENTS RECEIVING J-51 TAX BENEFITS (FIRST DEPT).
THE JURY SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED DEFENDANT DID NOT HAVE A DUTY TO RETREAT FROM A SHARED BATHROOM USED ONLY BY THE DEFENDANT AND THE COMPLAINANT; ASSAULT CONVICTION REVERSED (FIRST DEPT).
THE ANTI-SLAPP STATUTES IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS LAW PROTECTED DEFENDANT AGAINST A DEFAMATION ACTION BY THE PLASTIC SURGEON ABOUT WHOM DEFENDANT POSTED NEGATIVE ONLINE REVIEWS; THE COMPLAINT WAS PROPERLY DISMISSED AND DEFENDANT WAS ENTITLED TO ATTORNEY’S FEES AND DAMAGES (FIRST DEPT).
PLAINTIFF ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 241(6) CAUSE ACTION, CONTACT WITH A HANGING LIVE ELECTRIC WIRE, DEFENDANTS VICARIOUSLY LIABLE.
THE COMPLAINT STATED A CAUSE OF ACTION AGAINST PORT AUTHORITY FOR FAILING TO INSTALL FENCING TO PREVENT PLAINTIFFS’ DECEDENTS FROM COMMITTING SUICIDE BY JUMPING FROM THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE (FIRST DEPT). ​
LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION WERE ISSUED ON THE LAST DAY OF THE SIX MONTHS ALLOWED BY CPLR 205 (a) TO REFILE A DISMISSED ACTION, THE MOTION TO DISMISS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED; ARGUMENT THAT SUPREME COURT USED THE WRONG DATE TO CALCULATE THE SIX-MONTH PERIOD PROPERLY RAISED AND CONSIDERED FOR THE FIRST TIME ON APPEAL (FIRST DEPT).
EVEN THOUGH THE PEDESTRIAN DID NOT HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY WHEN HE CROSSED THE STREET, QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER DRIVER COULD HAVE AVOIDED STRIKING HIM.
UNLOADING STEEL PLATES USED TO COVER EXCAVATED AREAS AT A CONSTRUCTION SITE WAS A COVERED ACTIVITY UNDER LABOR LAW 240 (1) (FIRST DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Court Properly Accepted Partial Verdict and Sent the Jury Back to Continue Deliberations... Defendant Entitled to a Hearing On His Motion to Vacate His Conviction/Newly...