You are here: / / A WITNESS WHO WOULD HAVE TESTIFIED THE COMPLAINANT IN THIS SEXUAL ABUSE...
,

A WITNESS WHO WOULD HAVE TESTIFIED THE COMPLAINANT IN THIS SEXUAL ABUSE PROSECUTION HAD OFFERED TO GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY ABOUT THE WITNESS’S BOYFRIEND SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO TESTIFY (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction in this sexual abuse prosecution, determined a witness who would have testified about the complainant’s offer to give false testimony about the witness’s boyfriend should have been allowed to testify:

County Court erred in precluding him from calling a witness who would testify that the complainant offered to make a false allegation of abuse against the witness’s boyfriend. “Questioning concerning prior false allegations of rape or sexual abuse is not always precluded . . . , and the determination whether to allow such questioning rests within the discretion of the trial court” … . Evidence of a complainant’s prior false allegations of rape or sexual abuse is admissible to impeach the complainant’s credibility where a “defendant establishe[s] that the [prior] allegation may have been false[, and] . . . that the particulars of the complaints, the circumstances or manner of the alleged assaults, or the currency of the complaints were such as to suggest a pattern casting substantial doubt on the validity of the charges made by the complainant” … . Here, based on the proffer made at trial, defendant’s proposed witness would have testified that the complainant offered to knowingly make a false allegation against the witness’s boyfriend and that this conduct took place around the same time as the first incident alleged against defendant and just months before the second such incident. Further, per defense counsel’s proffer, the nature and circumstances of the allegations against defendant and the offered allegation against the witness’s boyfriend were sufficiently similar to “suggest a pattern casting substantial doubt on the validity of the charges” … . People v Andrews, 2022 NY Slip Op 06366, Fourth Dept 11-10-22

Practice Point: A witness who would have testified the complainant in this sexual abuse prosecution offered to give false testimony against her boyfriend should have been allowed to testify. Evidence of a complainant’s prior false allegations of sexual abuse can be admissible to impeach the complainant under certain circumstances (present here).

 

You might also like
NEGLIGENT HIRING AND SUPERVISION AND PRIMA FACIE TORT CAUSES OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED, NO ALLEGATION EMPLOYEES WERE ACTING OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT, NO ALLEGATION MALICE WAS DEFENDANT’S SOLE MOTIVATION (FOURTH DEPT).
ALTHOUGH THERE WAS EVIDENCE PLAINTIFF’S USE OF A LADDER INSTEAD OF THE SCISSORS LIFT CREATED THE SAFETY ISSUE LEADING TO PLAINTIFF’S FALL IN THIS LABOR LAW 240(1) ACTION, THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE OPERATOR OF THE SCISSORS LIFT WOULD NOT ALLOW PLAINTIFF TO ACCESS IT, RAISING A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER PLAINTIFF’S USE OF A LADDER WAS THE SOLE PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT; THERE WAS A SUBSTANTIAL DISSENT (FOURTH DEPT).
THE JUDGE DID NOT FOLLOW THE REQUIRED PROCEDURE FOR FINDING NEGLECT ON A GROUND NOT ALLEGED IN THE PETITION; TO DO SO, THE JUDGE MUST AMEND THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE PETITION TO CONFORM TO THE PROOF AND GIVE THE RESPONDENT TIME TO RESPOND TO THE AMENDED ALLEGATIONS; NEITHER WAS DONE; PETITION DISMISSED (FOURTH DEPT).
WRONGFUL CONVICTION ACTION PROPERLY DISMISSED, CONVICTION WAS NOT VACATED ON A GROUND ENUMERATED IN THE COURT OF CLAIMS ACT (FOURTH DEPT).
THE JUDGE’S FAILURE TO INFORM DEFENDANT OF POSTRELEASE SUPERVISION RENDERED DEFENDANT’S ADMISSION TO A PROBATION VIOLATION INVALID; THE ISSUE WAS CONSIDERED ON APPEAL DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF A MOTION TO WITHDRAW THE ADMISSION (FOURTH DEPT).
EVIDENCE MOTHER HAD BEEN ARRESTED FOR A DRUG OFFENSE WAS ENOUGH TO WARRANT A HEARING ON FATHER’S PETITION FOR A CUSTODY MODIFICATION 4TH DEPT.
FRAUD ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN COMMITTED IN A PRIOR PROCEEDING MUST BE ADDRESSED BY A MOTION TO VACATE THE JUDGMENT IN THAT PROCEEDING, NOT IN A SECOND PLENARY ACTION.
PATDOWN SEARCH NOT JUSTIFIED BY A LEGITITMATE CONCERN FOR OFFICER SAFETY, COCAINE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED.

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

UNAUTHORIZED USE OF A VEHICLE THIRD DEGRESS IS A LESSER INCLUSORY COUNT OF GRAND... THE INFORMATION SOUGHT BY DEFENDANT IN THIS SUIT BY THE INSURER TO DISCLAIM...