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DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS’S MOTIVE TO LIE, PROMPT OUTCRY EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT HAVE INCLUDED THE IDENTITY OF THE ASSAILANT, CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction, determined two evidentiary errors deprived defendant of a fair trial. Defendant was precluded from presenting evidence of a witness’s motive to lie, and the evidence of prompt outcry should not have included the identity of the assailant:

It is well settled that ” [t]he right of an accused in a criminal trial to due process is, in essence, the right to a fair opportunity to defend against the State’s accusations’ “… . “It is also well settled that in presenting the defense, counsel for the defendant may establish, during both cross[-]examination and on [defendant’s] direct case, the [complainant’s] . . . motive to lie . . . This is not a collateral inquiry, but is directly probative on the issue of credibility’ ” … , “the excluded evidence was not speculative . . . or cumulative . . . , as it went directly to the credibility of the complainant[, and] the defense counsel offered a good faith basis for the excluded line of questioning [and evidence].” “Because it cannot be said that there is no reasonable possibility that the error contributed to the verdict, the error cannot be deemed harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and reversal therefore is required” … .

Defendant also correctly contends that the court erred in permitting the People to present prompt outcry testimony that exceeded the proper scope of such testimony. Although “evidence that a victim of sexual assault promptly complained about the incident is admissible to corroborate the allegation that an assault took place” … , such evidence is limited to “only the fact of a complaint, not its accompanying details,” including the identity of the assailant … . We thus conclude that the court erred in permitting two of the three prompt outcry witnesses to testify concerning the identity of the alleged assailant … .

We thus conclude that either error, alone, would justify reversal and that the cumulative effect of the errors denied defendant a fair trial … . People v Vo, 2018 NY Slip Op 07909, Fourth Dept 11-16-18

CRIMINAL LAW (EVIDENCE, DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS’S MOTIVE TO LIE, PROMPT OUTCRY EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT HAVE INCLUDED THE IDENTITY OF THE ASSAILANT, CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT))/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS’S MOTIVE TO LIE, PROMPT OUTCRY EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT HAVE INCLUDED THE IDENTITY OF THE ASSAILANT, CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT))/LIE, MOTIVE TO (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS’S MOTIVE TO LIE, PROMPT OUTCRY EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT HAVE INCLUDED THE IDENTITY OF THE ASSAILANT, CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT))/PROMPT OUTCRY (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS’S MOTIVE TO LIE, PROMPT OUTCRY EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT HAVE INCLUDED THE IDENTITY OF THE ASSAILANT, CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT))/HEARSAY (CRIMINAL LAW, PROMPT OUTCRY, DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS’S MOTIVE TO LIE, PROMPT OUTCRY EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT HAVE INCLUDED THE IDENTITY OF THE ASSAILANT, CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT))/IDENTIFICATION (CRIMINAL LAW, PROMPT OUTCRY,  DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF A WITNESS’S MOTIVE TO LIE, PROMPT OUTCRY EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT HAVE INCLUDED THE IDENTITY OF THE ASSAILANT, CONVICTION REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT))

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