THE COMPLAINT CHARGING FORCIBLE TOUCHING DID NOT ALLEGE THE APPLICATION OF PRESSURE AS AN ELEMENT OF THE TOUCHING RENDERING THE COMPLAINT LEGALLY INSFUFFICIENT (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, vacating the defendant’s forcible touching conviction, determined the complaint was legally insufficient because it did not allege the application of pressure as an element of the touching:
The complaint was legally insufficient to support the forcible touching charge; therefore, with respect to that charge only, the prosecutor’s information was jurisdictionally defective … . The actus reus of forcible touching (Penal Law § 130.52) is “any bodily contact involving the application of some level of pressure to the victim’s sexual or intimate parts” … . Here, the complaint alleged that defendant touched the victim’s thighs and genitals by reaching under her skirt, but it failed to allege any facts consistent with the application of pressure … . People v Zaragoza, 2021 NY Slip Op 03915, First Dept 6-17-21