New York Appellate Digest
  • Home
  • About
  • Just Released
  • Update Service
  • Streamlined Research
  • CLE Courses
  • Contact
  • Menu Menu
You are here: Home1 / Appeals2 / CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE,...
Appeals, Criminal Law, Evidence

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing defendant’s child pornography convictions and dismissing the indictment, determined the convictions were against the weight of the evidence. The defendant, who speaks Spanish, gave a written statement in English acknowledging he had downloaded child pornography. However, it was revealed at trial that the police provided information that was in the statement and made changes to the statement without defendant’s permission. The defendant had waived a pre-trial Huntley hearing on the voluntariness of the statement, informing the judge he intended to challenge the voluntariness of the statement at trial. The judge, in this bench trial, erroneously ruled defendant had waived his right to challenge the statement a trial. The defendant testified that he did not download the child pornography and that he gave the statement to protect a family member. A family member testified and admitted “unintentionally” downloading the files. Defendant produced evidence he was at work when at least two of the files were downloaded:

The convictions were based on the defendant’s alleged acts of downloading and/or sharing 15 video files and 2 still images, on multiple dates. The People introduced into evidence, inter alia, a written statement in English that the defendant made to law enforcement officials. In that statement, the defendant acknowledged having downloaded approximately 5 videos containing child pornography; he did not specify the names or descriptions of the materials, or the dates of the actions. The defendant’s written statement included the name of the program used to download contraband materials to this computer, as well as a term allegedly used in titles of child pornography files, but a police investigator acknowledged that he had supplied those terms. Apart from the defendant’s statement to the police, the prosecution adduced no other evidence showing that it was the defendant who had downloaded and/or shared the subject materials, consisting of 15 video files and 2 still photographs, on specific dates and times. …

Although we ordinarily accord great deference to the factfinder’s opportunity to view the witnesses, hear the testimony, and observe demeanor…, under the circumstances of this case, we give no deference to the County Court’s assessment of the defendant’s credibility on the issue of the voluntariness of his statements to law enforcement officials, as the court erroneously precluded the defendant from contesting the voluntariness of the written statement during the trial, contrary to his statutory and constitutional right to do so … . People v Vasquez, 2018 NY Slip Op 04761, Second Dept 6-27-18

CRIMINAL LAW (CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/APPEALS (CRIMINAL LAW, WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/CHILD PORNOGRAPHY (CRIMINAL LAW, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/VOLUNTARINESS OF STATEMENT (CRIMINAL LAW, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/HUNTLEY HEARING LAW (CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, (CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT))

June 27, 2018/by Bruce Freeman
Tags: Second Department
Share this entry
  • Share on WhatsApp
https://www.newyorkappellatedigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/NYAppelateLogo-White-1.png 0 0 Bruce Freeman https://www.newyorkappellatedigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/NYAppelateLogo-White-1.png Bruce Freeman2018-06-27 12:17:062020-01-28 11:25:08CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTIONS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT DID NOT WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THE VOLUNTARINESS OF THE STATEMENT AT TRIAL BY WAIVING A PRE-TRIAL HUNTLEY HEARING (SECOND DEPT).
You might also like
COMPANY WHICH HIRED PLAINTIFF’S EMPLOYER AND PROPERTY OWNER LIABLE FOR PLAINTIFF’S FALL UNDER LABOR LAW 240 (1) AND 241 (6), THE COMPANY WHICH HIRED PLAINTIFF’S EMPLOYER WAS A PROPER DEFENDANT BECAUSE IT HAD THE AUTHORITY TO SUPERVISE, EVEN IF IT DID NOT EXERCISE THAT AUTHORITY (SECOND DEPT).
WET AND MUDDY CONDITION OF A FIELD WAS OPEN AND OBVIOUS, DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
Cause of Action for Fraudulent Concealment Must Allege a Basis for the Existence of a Duty to Disclose
SURVIVING PLAINTIFF IN THIS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION DID NOT TIMELY MOVE TO SUBSTITUTE A REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE DECEDENT PURSUANT TO CPLR 1021, ACTION PROPERLY DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT). ​
DEFENDANTS DID NOT DEMONSTRATE SURGICAL CONSENT FORM COMPLIED WITH THE ACCEPTED STANDARD OF DISCLOSURE, SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED.
Action Dismissed Because Letters of Administration Had Not Been Issued to Plaintiff at the Time the Action Was Commenced
(Harmless) Error for Prosecutor to Ask If Other Witnesses’ Testimony Was Untrue and to Ask About Defendant’s Silence Upon Apprehension
Failure to Identify Industrial Code Violation in Pleadings Not Fatal/Supervisory Criteria for Labor Law 200(1) Action Explained

Categories

  • Abuse of Process
  • Account Stated
  • Accountant Malpractice
  • Administrative Law
  • Agency
  • Animal Law
  • Appeals
  • Arbitration
  • Architectural Malpractice
  • Associations
  • Attorneys
  • Banking Law
  • Bankruptcy
  • Battery
  • Chiropractor Malpractice
  • Civil Commitment
  • Civil Conspiracy
  • Civil Forfeiture
  • Civil Procedure
  • Civil Rights Law
  • Condominiums
  • Constitutional Law
  • Consumer Law
  • Contempt
  • Contract Law
  • Conversion
  • Cooperatives
  • Copyright
  • Corporation Law
  • Correction Law
  • Court of Claims
  • Criminal Law
  • Debtor-Creditor
  • Defamation
  • Dental Malpractice
  • Disciplinary Hearings (Inmates)
  • Education-School Law
  • Election Law
  • Eminent Domain
  • Employment Law
  • Engineering Malpractice
  • Environmental Law
  • Evidence
  • Fair Credit Reporting Act
  • Fair Housing Act
  • Fair Housing Amendments Act
  • False Arrest
  • False Claims Act
  • False Imprisonment
  • Family Law
  • Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA)
  • Fiduciary Duty
  • Foreclosure
  • Fraud
  • Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)
  • Human Rights Law
  • Immigration Law
  • Immunity
  • Indian Law
  • Insurance Law
  • Intellectual Property
  • Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
  • Involuntary Medical Treatment and Feeding (Inmates)
  • Judges
  • Labor Law
  • Labor Law-Construction Law
  • Land Use
  • Landlord-Tenant
  • Legal Malpractice
  • Lien Law
  • Limited Liability Company Law
  • Longshoreman's and Harbor Worker's Compensation Act
  • Malicious Prosecution
  • Maritime Law
  • Medicaid
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Mental Hygiene Law
  • Military Law
  • Money Had and Received
  • Municipal Law
  • Navigation Law
  • Negligence
  • Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
  • Negligent Misrepresentation
  • Notarial Misconduct
  • Nuisance
  • Partnership Law
  • Personal Property
  • Pharmacist Malpractice
  • Physician Patient Confidentiality
  • Pistol Permits
  • Prima Facie Tort
  • Private Nuisance
  • Privilege
  • Products Liability
  • Public Authorities Law
  • Public Corporations
  • Public Health Law
  • Public Nuisance
  • Real Estate
  • Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL)
  • Real Property Law
  • Real Property Tax Law
  • Religion
  • Replevin
  • Retirement and Social Security Law
  • Securities
  • Sepulcher
  • Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA)
  • Social Services Law
  • Statutes
  • Tax Law
  • Tenant Harassment
  • Tortious Interference with Contract
  • Tortious Interference with Employment
  • Tortious Interference with Prospective Business Relations
  • Tortious Interference With Prospective Economic Advantage
  • Toxic Torts
  • Trade Secrets
  • Trademarks
  • Trespass
  • Trusts and Estates
  • Unemployment Insurance
  • Unfair Competition
  • Uniform Commercial Code
  • Usury
  • Utilities
  • Vehicle and Traffic Law
  • Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law (VGM)
  • Water Law
  • Workers' Compensation
  • Zoning

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

Copyright © 2022 New York Appellate Digest, LLC
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

BENCH TRIAL JUDGE’S RESCINDING OF THE RULING DEFENSE COUNSEL COULD GIVE... SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AWARDED TO PLAINTIFF IN THIS SIDEWALK...
Scroll to top