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ALTHOUGH THE DEFENDANT WAS 33 YEARS OLD AND THE JURY OBSERVED HIM, THE PEOPLE’S FAILURE TO PROVE HE WAS OVER 18 AT THE TIME OF THE CRIMES REQUIRED REVERSAL AND DISMISSAL OF TWO COUNTS; THE ERROR WAS NOT PRESERVED; THE COURT CONSIDERED THE ISSUE IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s convictions of predatory sexual assault of a child and criminal sexual act first degree, determined that, although defendant was in fact 33 years old, the People failed to prove that he was over 18 at the time of the crimes. The errors was not preserved. The appellate court exercised its interest of justice jurisdiction to consider the issue:

Here, two counts in the indictment include an age element that required the People to establish that defendant was at least 18 years old at the time of the crimes in June 2020 … . Defendant was in fact 33 years old in June 2020, and the jury naturally had the opportunity to observe his appearance during the trial in 2021, but that opportunity “does not, by itself, satisfy the People’s obligation to prove defendant’s age” … , and there was no evidence at trial bearing on his age … . We therefore modify the judgment by reversing those parts convicting defendant of predatory sexual assault against a child under count 1 of the indictment and criminal sexual act in the first degree under count 5 of the indictment and dismissing those counts of the indictment. People v Jones, 2026 NY Slip Op 01882, Fourth Dept 3-27-26

Practice Point: If being over 18 at the time of the crime is an element of the offense, the People must prove that element. Here the defendant was 33, but the failure to prove he was over 18 was reversible error. This error will be considered by an appellate court even where it has not been preserved for appeal.​

 

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