VICTIM’S IDENTIFICATION TESTIMONY WAS SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT CONVICTION, DESPITE LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, DIZZINESS AND INCONSISTENCIES.
The First Department, over an extensive dissent, determined the identification testimony by the assault victim was credible, despite a period of unconsciousness, dizziness and inconsistencies:
[The] grounds for undercutting one-witness identifications [in other cases] are not comparable to the dizziness and loss of consciousness caused by the subject assault, and the limited nature of the complainant’s two opportunities to look directly at his attacker. Our system of criminal justice relies on victims of violence identifying their attackers when they are able to do so. It would be ironic indeed if the severity of an attack and the resulting injuries were to prompt courts to treat the subsequent identification as unworthy of belief, despite the complainant’s certainty. Of course, the defense is entitled to question an identification based on the complainant’s compromised condition caused by the attack. However, that argument did not sway the jury here, and upon our review of the evidence at trial, it does not appear that the complainant was unable to make an identification.
Any inconsistencies in the complainant’s testimony were minor, possibly due to limitations in his English skills, and did not undermine his overall credibility. People v Kahson B., 2017 NY Slip Op 01265, 1st Dept 2-16-17
CRIMINAL LAW (VICTIM’S IDENTIFICATION TESTIMONY WAS SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT CONVICTION, DESPITE LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, DIZZINESS AND INCONSISTENCIES)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, VICTIM’S IDENTIFICATION TESTIMONY WAS SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT CONVICTION, DESPITE LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, DIZZINESS AND INCONSISTENCIES)/IDENTIFICATION (CRIMINAL LAW, EVIDENCE, VICTIM’S IDENTIFICATION TESTIMONY WAS SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT CONVICTION, DESPITE LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, DIZZINESS AND INCONSISTENCIES)