THE TESTIMONY OF THE ACCOMPLICE WAS SUFFICIENTLY CORROBORATED; THE INDICTMENT WAS SUPPORTED BY LEGALLY SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the indictment should not have been dismissed because there was sufficient corroboration of the testimony of an accomplice:
The People contend that County Court erred in determining that the grand jury testimony of defendant’s accomplice was not sufficiently corroborated. We agree. The corroboration requirement is satisfied by evidence that ” ‘tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime in such a way as may reasonably satisfy the jury that the accomplice is telling the truth’ ” … . Sufficient corroboration may be provided by evidence that ” ‘harmonize[s]’ ” with the accomplice testimony, i.e., when “read with the accomplice’s testimony, [it] makes it more likely that the defendant committed the offense” … .
Here, the accomplice’s testimony that, on a specific date, defendant and the accomplice had a telephone conversation regarding the alleged criminal conduct is corroborated by defendant’s cell phone records, which establish “that cell phone calls were made as the accomplice[] testified” … . The accomplice’s testimony is also corroborated by, among other things, the testimony of non-accomplices and the transcript of the criminal jury trial during which the charged offenses were allegedly committed … . People v Baska, 2021 NY Slip Op 00947, Fourth Dept 2-11-21
