SEX TRAFFICKING CONVICTION AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing the sex trafficking conviction, determined there was insufficient evidence defendant used force or participated in a scheme to compel the alleged victim to engage in prostitution by threat of physical harm. The sex trafficking conviction was deemed to be against the weight of the evidence:

The evidence showed that the alleged victim, her mother, and a third woman, sought to earn more money than they were earning in Florida, that they voluntarily traveled with defendant to New York to earn money as prostitutes, and that defendant left them alone at times in Florida and New York. There was no evidence presented at trial that defendant ever threatened to harm the alleged victim if she failed to begin or continue working as a prostitute. A detective described a call he overheard between defendant and the alleged victim, after she was apprehended, in which defendant was angry because he believed that she did not get money from a client. However, this does not suffice to prove any use of force or a “scheme” to compel her to work as a prostitute. Similarly, although the third woman in the group that came with defendant from Florida testified that she was a “little intimidated” by an argument over money between defendant and another man, this does not establish the required threat of harm, even assuming the alleged victim also saw and heard the argument. People v Hayes, 2020 NY Slip Op 00832, First Dept 2-4-20