STATEMENT MADE BY THE ASSAULT VICTIM 12 TO 15 MINUTES AFTER THE ASSAULT WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED AS AN EXCITED UTTERANCE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined a statement made by the victim of an assault 12 to 15 minutes after the assault was admissible under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule:

Defendant contends … that County Court erred in permitting a prosecution witness to testify that the victim told him that “the man he was fighting with was the one that cut him” because that statement did not fall under the excited utterance exception to the rule against hearsay. We reject that contention. The victim made the statement approximately 12 to 15 minutes after the assault and while he was being treated in the prison’s infirmary. Testimony at trial established that, at the time of the statement, the victim appeared to be “emotional,” “mad,” “angry,” and “very agitated.” The statement qualified as an excited utterance inasmuch as that statement was “made shortly after the [assault and] . . . while [the victim] was under the extraordinary stress of [his] injuries” … . People v Farrington, 2019 NY Slip Op 03237, Fourth Dept 4-26-19