You are here: / / ALTHOUGH THE SEXUAL ABUSE COUNT WAS FACIALLY VALID, THE VICTIM’S...
,

ALTHOUGH THE SEXUAL ABUSE COUNT WAS FACIALLY VALID, THE VICTIM’S TESTIMONY RENDERED THE COUNT DUPLICITIOUS, REQUIRING REVERSAL ON THAT COUNT (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing defendant’s conviction of one count of sexual abuse, determined, although the count was facially valid, it was rendered duplicitous by the victim’s testimony:

The evidence relative to these charges derived mostly from the victim’s trial testimony, wherein she revealed that she and defendant lived in the same household during the relevant time frame and he touched her inappropriately on several occasions while in the basement of the residence. With respect to count 2, when asked on direct examination whether defendant had his clothes on, the victim answered that he would “sometimes . . . take off his shirt” and “sometimes he would have no shirt on at all” … . The prosecutor then asked the victim whether she remembered “more than one time that [defendant] didn’t have a shirt on” and she stated: “I remember one time that he did not have his shirt on.” On cross-examination, defense counsel asked the victim whether it was true that there were multiple times defendant “took his shirt off,” to which she responded in the affirmative. She then explained that “[i]t was at least two” times and repeated this again when confronted with the fact that, during her grand jury testimony, she stated that defendant had taken his shirt off only once, clarifying that she “meant to say two.”

… Where, as here, “trial testimony provides evidence of repeated acts that cannot be individually related to specific counts in the indictment, the prohibition against duplicitousness has been violated” … . People v McNealy, 2024 NY Slip Op 04230, Third Dept 8-15-24

Practice Point: Where an indictment court charges one incident and the trial testimony indicates there were multiple similar incidents, it is impossible to tell whether the jury was unanimous in convicting under that count. The count was rendered duplicitous by the trial testimony, requiring reversal. 

 

You might also like
NO NEED TO SPECIFY CRIME TO BE COMMITTED DURING A CHARGED BURGLARY IN THE SUPERIOR COURT INFORMATION, RESTITUTION FOR AN UNCHARGED BURGLARY IMPROPERLY ORDERED (THIRD DEPT).
ALTHOUGH THERE WAS EVIDENCE CLAIMANT MADE A FALSE STATEMENT ABOUT THE LEVEL OF HER INVOLVEMENT IN AN ONLINE BUSINESS WHILE SHE WAS RECEIVING WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BENEFITS, SHE WAS FORTHRIGHT ABOUT HER INVOLVEMENT WHEN QUESTIONED; PERMANENT DISQUALIFICATION FROM FUTURE BENEFITS WAS NOT WARRANTED (THIRD DEPT).
THE PLAINTIFF SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO AMEND THE COMPLAINT TO CURE THE OMISSION OF THE “PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE” REQUIREMENT IN THIS SIDEWALK SLIP AND FALL CASE; THE AMENDMENT WAS NOT PALPABLY DEVOID OF MERIT AND WOULD NOT PREJUDICE THE CITY DEFENDANT; PLAINTIFF DID NOT NEED TO PRESENT ANY PROOF ON THE ISSUE; THEREFORE THE AMENDMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED ON THE GROUND THE PROOF SUBMITTED WAS INSUFFICIENT (THIRD DEPT).
Music Teachers Were Employees Entitled to Unemployment Insurance Benefits—Criteria for Professionals, Like Musicians, Who Do Not Lend Themselves to Direct Supervision or Control, Explained
PLAINTIFF TRIPPED OVER A FOOTING FOR A TRAFFIC SIGNAL POLE WHICH HAD BEEN REMOVED; ALTHOUGH THE CITY APPROVED THE REMOVAL OF THE POLE IT PLAYED NO ROLE IN ITS REMOVAL; THEREFORE THE CITY DID NOT CREATE THE CONDITION AND THE LACK OF WRITTEN NOTICE RELIEVED THE CITY OF LIABILITY (THIRD DEPT).
WAIVER OF INDICTMENT WAS JURISDICTIONALLY DEFECTIVE BECAUSE IT DID NOT INCLUDE THE TIME AND PLACE OF THE OFFENSE (THIRD DEPT).
UNDER THE NEW APPELLATE PRACTICE RULES FOR CROSS-APPEALS, DEFENDANTS ABANDONED THIER APPEAL BECAUSE THEY DID NOT FILE THEIR BRIEF WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF FILING THE NOTICE OF APPEAL; THE COURT OPTED TO WAIVE DEFENDANTS’ NONCOMPLIANCE AND DEEMED THE CROSS APPEAL PROPERLY BEFORE THE COURT (THIRD DEPT).
THE ABANDONMENT PETITION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED; PETITIONER DID NOT DEMONSTRATE RESPONDENT FATHER INTENDED TO FOREGO HIS PARENTAL RIGHTS AND, IN FACT, PETITIONER AFFIRMATIVELY INTERFERED WITH FATHER’S ATTEMPTS TO MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH THE CHILDREN (THIRD DEPT). ​

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

HERE THE COMPLAINT STATED A CHILD-VICTIMS-ACT CAUSE OF ACTION AGAINST THE STATE;... THE SIX-MONTH EXTENSION FOR COMMENCEMENT OF AN ACTION UNDER CPLR 205(A) IS NOT...