THE EVIDENCE THAT DEFENDANT HAD SEXUALLY ASSAULTED THE VICITM’S TWO SISTERS WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED UNDER MOLINEUX IN THIS RAPE PROSECUTION; DEFENDANT ADMITTED HAVING ROUGH SEX WITH THE VICTIM AND CLAIMED IT WAS CONSENSUAL; THE PRIOR CRIME EVIDENCE WAS NOT ADMITTED TO PROVE DEFENDANT HAD SEX WITH THE VICTIM. BUT RATHER TO PROVE HIS STATE OF MIND, HIS INTENT TO HAVE NONCONSENSUAL SEX BY FORCE (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Singas, over two concurrences, affirming defendant’s rape conviction, determined the evidence defendant had sexually assaulted the victim’s sisters was admissible under Molineux. Defendant admitted having sex with the victim, characterizing it as consensual rough sex. The evidence of the prior assaults on the victim’s sisters was not offered to prove defendant had sex with the victim, but rather to prove the defendant’s state of mind, his intent:

​This Court has consistently deemed Molineux evidence admissible where a defendant offers a theory of defense that assumes the underlying conduct but disputes that the defendant possessed the requisite guilty intent or state of mind in the commission of said conduct … . This rule makes sense because the focus in that situation “is not on the actual doing of the act, for the act is either conceded or established by other evidence. Rather, the element in issue is the actor’s state of mind, and evidence of other similar acts is admitted under this exception because no particular intent can be inferred from the nature of the act committed” … .​ * * *​

Defendant presented a theory at trial that the sexual act was consensual. Thus, the primary question for the jury was not whether sexual intercourse occurred but whether defendant possessed the requisite intent: did he intend to have sexual intercourse with the victim without her consent and did he intend to use forcible compulsion to do so. That defendant had previously sexually assaulted the victim’s sisters—defendant’s other sisters-in-law—under hauntingly similar circumstances “has obvious relevance as tending to refute defendant’s claim of an innocent state of mind” … . It tends to make “the innocent explanation improbable” … .

Additionally, the unique facts of this case render the Molineux evidence relevant as background information pertaining to the nature of defendant’s relationship with the victim and the dynamics of the family at large … . During the charged rape, defendant stated: “I am waiting for all your sister. I want to do like this. So I am waiting for this time.” Isolated, this statement may leave the jury puzzled. The Molineux evidence fills that gap and provides clarity and context for the jury. Further, defendant threatened to rape one of A.A.’s sisters if she told anyone what defendant did, and A.A. did disclose defendant’s assault on her to multiple members of the family, making evidence of that assault particularly illuminating … . Lastly, defense counsel suggested during opening argument that this family may have been engaging in “inner family marriages,” thus rendering defendant’s relationships with the other women in the family pertinent. People v Hu Sin, 2025 NY Slip Op 03100, CtApp 5-22-25

Practice Point: Consult this decision for clear examples of when evidence of prior similar crimes is admissible under Molineux. Here defendant claimed the rough sex with the victim was consensual. Evidence of prior sexual assaults on the victim’s sisters was admissible to prove defendant intended to have sex by force without the victim’s consent.