You are here: / / EXPERT EVIDENCE ABOUT THE EFFECT OF A DRUG MIXED WITH ALCOHOL ON DEFENDANT’S...
,

EXPERT EVIDENCE ABOUT THE EFFECT OF A DRUG MIXED WITH ALCOHOL ON DEFENDANT’S ABILITY TO FORM THE INTENT TO COMMIT MURDER AND ASSAULT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADMITTED; DEFENDANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO LAY A FOUNDATION TO QUALIFY AN EMAIL WHICH INCLUDED HEARSAY AS A BUSINESS RECORD; NEW TRIAL ORDERED.

The Third Department, reversing defendant’s attempted murder and assault convictions, determined expert testimony explaining the effects of a drug taken by the defendant along with alcohol should have been admitted. In addition, an email in which a police officer, who was not at the scene, referred to the defendant’s condition as “highly intoxicated” should not have been excluded as hearsay. If the document had been qualified as a business record, it would have been admissible. The defendant should have been given an opportunity to establish a foundation for the admissibility of the email:

As a general rule, the admissibility and limits of expert testimony lie primarily in the sound discretion of the trial court” … . The criteria to be used is “whether the proffered expert testimony ‘would aid a lay jury in reaching a verdict’ ” … , however, and the testimony proffered here regarding the effect of combined clonazepam and alcohol use would undoubtedly be useful to a lay jury in assessing “the ability of a defendant to form the intent to commit a crime following drug and alcohol consumption” … . As the Court of Appeals explained when presented with a comparable situation, while “jurors might be familiar with the effects of alcohol on one’s mental state, the combined impact of” alcohol and other drugs “on a person’s ability to act purposefully cannot be said as a matter of law to be within the ken of the typical juror” … . * * *

County Court erred in refusing to allow defendant to question the author of the preliminary investigation report describing defendant as “highly intoxicated” and then declining to admit the document into evidence on hearsay grounds because its author was not present on the night of the incident. Defendant must be afforded an opportunity to establish the proper foundation to qualify the email as a business record within the meaning of CPLR 4518 and, if defendant is successful in that effort, the fact that its author lacked personal knowledge of defendant’s intoxication goes to the weight, not the admissibility, of the statements therein … . People v Mawhiney, 2023 NY Slip Op 05289, Third Dept 10-19-23

Practice Point: Where an issue is beyond the ken of an average juror, here the effect of a drug and alcohol combination on the defendant’s ability to form intent, expert testimony should be admitted.

Practice Point: Here an email by a police officer who was not at the scene of the shooting referred to the defendant as “highly intoxicated.” Although the statement is hearsay, the email may be admissible if it is demonstrated to be a business record.

 

You might also like
Neglect Based on Failure to Provide Child with Cleft Palate Proper Nutrition
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW 35 PROVIDES A SAFETY NET FOR WORKERS WHO HAVE REACHED THE LIMIT OF WEEKS OF INDEMNITY PAYMENTS PURSUANT TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW 15 (THIRD DEPT).
THE 3RD DEPARTMENT, JOINING THE 2ND, HOLDS THAT A DEFENDANT HAS A RIGHT TO EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AT A SORA RISK-LEVEL PROCEEDING, DESPITE ITS CIVIL NATURE; DEFENDANT DID NOT RECEIVE EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE; THE JUDGE DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW (THIRD DEPT).
PETITIONER LEASED COMMERCIAL TRUCKS; AT THE OUTSET OF THE LEASE PETITIONER PAID SALES TAX BASED ON THE ESTIMATED RENT; IF, AT THE END OF THE LEASE, THE ACTUAL RENT WAS LOWER THAN THE ESTIMATED RENT, PETITIONER REFUNDED THE EXCESS RENT AND SALES TAX; PETITIONER THEN TOOK CREDITS FOR THE REFUNDED SALES TAX; THE TAX TRIBUNAL FOUND PETITIONER COULD NOT TAKE THOSE CREDITS AND IMPOSED A SALES TAX ASSESSMENT OF NEARLY $3 MILLION; THE THIRD DEPARTMENT ANNULLED THE ASSESSMENT FINDING THE CREDITS PROPER (THIRD DEPT).
A RECENT US SUPREME COURT RULING DOES NOT AFFECT THE NYS COURT OF APPEALS RULING THAT REGULATIONS REQUIRING HEALTH INSURANCE POLICIES TO COVER “MEDICALLY NECESSARY ABORTIONS” BUT WHICH EXEMPT POLICIES PROVIDED BY “RELIGIOUS EMPLOYERS” DO NOT IMPAIR THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION (THIRD DEPT).
Elderly Patient’s Fall from an Examining Table Implicated a Duty of Care Which Takes Into Account Patient’s Infirmities/Elderly and Infirm Patient’s Fall from Examining Table Sounds in Medical Malpractice, Not Ordinary Negligence
THE FORECLOSURE ABUSE PREVENTION ACT (FAPA) APPLIES RETROACTIVELY; THE FORECLOSURE ACTION HERE IS THEREFORE TIME-BARRED (THIRD DEPT).
Delay In Bringing Action Seeking to Stop a Development Project Which Had Been Proceeding for Years Precluded the Grant of a Preliminary Injunction, Despite the Apparent Legitimate Nature of the Allegations

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

DEFENDANT WAS NOT GIVEN NOTICE OF SOME OF THE EVIDENCE RELIED ON BY COUNTY COURT... THE UNIVERSAL LIFE INSURANCE POLICY AT ISSUE WAS NOT SUBJECT TO INSURANCE LAW...