You are here: / / TRIAL JUDGE SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED DEFENSE COUNSEL TO REOPEN THE PROOF AFTER...
, ,

TRIAL JUDGE SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED DEFENSE COUNSEL TO REOPEN THE PROOF AFTER A VIDEO PLAYED DURING SUMMATION DEMONSTRATED THE ALLEGED VICTIM HAD NOT TESTIFIED TRUTHFULLY, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO VIEW THE ENTIRE VIDEO PRIOR TO TRIAL (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction, determined: (1) the court erred when ii refused to reopen the proof after a video played for the first time during summation demonstrated defendant’s estranged wife, the alleged victim, had apparently not testified truthfully; and (2) defense counsel was ineffective for failing to view the entire video before trial. The video was from a convenience store. The estranged wife testified that the defendant fired shots at her as she was driving two minutes after leaving the convenience store. She testified she was driving a green Lexus with one child when the shots were fired. The video apparently showed her leaving the convenience store in a blue-gray Nissan with two children:

… [T]he decision to permit a party to reopen the case, at least prior to its submission to the jury, lies within the discretion of the trial court … . A trial court’s discretion to preclude evidence is nonetheless “circumscribed by the defendant’s constitutional rights to present a defense and confront his [or her] accusers” … , because “[a] defendant always has the constitutional right to present a complete defense”… and “to put before a jury evidence that might influence the determination of guilt” … . …

Here, defendant’s arguments in support of his motion to reopen the proof implicated the constitutional aspects of his contention raised on appeal, i.e., that reopening the proof was necessary to afford him a fair trial and his right to present a defense to the allegations upon which he was being prosecuted. To the extent that defendant did not preserve the constitutional aspects of his contention for our review by failing to raise them sufficiently before the trial court … , we exercise our power to review those aspects of his contention as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice … . People v Owens, 2018 NY Slip Op 01712, Fourth Dept 3-16-18

CRIMINAL LAW (TRIAL JUDGE SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED DEFENSE COUNSEL TO REOPEN THE PROOF AFTER A VIDEO PLAYED DURING SUMMATION DEMONSTRATED THE ALLEGED VICTIM HAD NOT TESTIFIED TRUTHFULLY, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO VIEW THE ENTIRE VIDEO PRIOR TO TRIAL (FOURTH DEPT))/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, REOPEN PROOF, TRIAL JUDGE SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED DEFENSE COUNSEL TO REOPEN THE PROOF AFTER A VIDEO PLAYED DURING SUMMATION DEMONSTRATED THE ALLEGED VICTIM HAD NOT TESTIFIED TRUTHFULLY, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO VIEW THE ENTIRE VIDEO PRIOR TO TRIAL (FOURTH DEPT))/ATTORNEYS (CRIMINAL LAW, (TRIAL JUDGE SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED DEFENSE COUNSEL TO REOPEN THE PROOF AFTER A VIDEO PLAYED DURING SUMMATION DEMONSTRATED THE ALLEGED VICTIM HAD NOT TESTIFIED TRUTHFULLY, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO VIEW THE ENTIRE VIDEO PRIOR TO TRIAL (FOURTH DEPT))/INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE (CRIMINAL LAW, TRIAL JUDGE SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED DEFENSE COUNSEL TO REOPEN THE PROOF AFTER A VIDEO PLAYED DURING SUMMATION DEMONSTRATED THE ALLEGED VICTIM HAD NOT TESTIFIED TRUTHFULLY, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO VIEW THE ENTIRE VIDEO PRIOR TO TRIAL (FOURTH DEPT))/TRIALS (CRIMINAL LAW, REOPEN PROOF, TRIAL JUDGE SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED DEFENSE COUNSEL TO REOPEN THE PROOF AFTER A VIDEO PLAYED DURING SUMMATION DEMONSTRATED THE ALLEGED VICTIM HAD NOT TESTIFIED TRUTHFULLY, DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO VIEW THE ENTIRE VIDEO PRIOR TO TRIAL (FOURTH DEPT))

You might also like
QUESTIONS OF FACT RAISED WHETHER DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS WERE MOTIVATED SOLELY BY MALICE, THEREBY OVERCOMING QUALIFIED IMMUNITY, AND WERE MADE WITHIN THE SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT, THEREBY RENDERING THE EMPLOYER VICARIOUSLY LIABLE.
WHETHER THE HOUSE FIRE WAS DELIBERATELY SET WAS NOT RELEVANT TO THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF THE INSURANCE-FRAUD OFFENSES STEMMING FROM OVERSTATING THE VALUE OF DESTROYED ITEMS AND MAKING CLAIMS FOR ITEMS DEFENDANT DID NOT OWN OR POSSESS; THEREFORE THE PROBATIVE VALUE OF THE ARSON INVESTIGATOR’S TESTIMONY OUTWEIGHED ITS PROBATIVE EFFECT; ALTHOUGH THE ERRORS WERE NOT PRESERVED, THE APPEAL WAS CONSIDERED IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE (FOURTH DEPT).
Fall Into a Three-to-Four-Foot-Deep Hole Is Not an Elevation-Related Event Under Labor Law 240(1)
Sentence for Offenses Rising from Same Incident Must Be Concurrent
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER STAIRWAY WHICH COLLAPSED WAS TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT, ONLY TEMPORARY STAIRWAYS ARE COVERED UNDER LABOR LAW 240 (1), QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER PROJECT MANAGER HAD SUFFICIENT SUPERVISORY CONTROL TO BE LIABLE UNDER LABOR LAW 240 (1), 241 (6) AND 200 (FOURTH DEPT).
DEFENDANTS’ ATTORNEYS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED BECAUSE THEY HAD REPRESENTED PLAINTIFFS’ TRUSTEE, A NONPARTY, IN AN UNRELATED MATTER (FOURTH DEPT).
Police Officer Involved In Accident Acted Appropriately In an Emergency Operation—Defendants Not Liable As a Matter of Law
Criteria for Deceptive Business Practices Explained

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

EXPERT EVIDENCE ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME (CSAAS) WAS IMPROPERLY... QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER FORGED NOTE AND GUARANTIES WERE RATIFIED (FOURTH ...