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GRAND JURY EVIDENCE WAS SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE STRANGULATION COUNT DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF A DEFINITION OF THE “STUPOR” ELEMENT OF THE OFFENSE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing County Court on a People’s appeal and reinstating the strangulation count, determined the evidence before the grand jury was sufficient to charge strangulation. County Court had reduced the charge to criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation. County Court ruled the People had not presented evidence sufficient to support the theory the strangulation caused “stupor” citing the People’s failure to define the term:

In order to sustain the charge of strangulation in the second degree against defendant, the People were required to present to the grand jury legally sufficient evidence of the following three elements: (1) that defendant applied pressure on the throat or neck of the alleged victim; (2) that defendant did so with the intent to impede the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of the alleged victim; and (3) that defendant thereby caused stupor, loss of consciousness for any period of time, or any other physical injury or impairment to the alleged victim … .

… [T]he prosecutor’s instructions to the grand jury comported with the statute and mirrored the pattern criminal jury instructions … , and we conclude that the failure of the prosecutor to offer a definition of the term “stupor” did not impair the integrity of the grand jury proceedings or potentially prejudice defendant … .

… [T]he alleged victim testified before the grand jury that defendant “put both of his hands around [her] neck and choked [her] until [she] could barely breathe anymore” and “was starting to lose consciousness.” She was “pushed up against the wall and the door” and felt “[v]ery light-headed and kind of like—like there was a buzzing in [her] head and everything was starting to turn purple in [her] vision before—by the time [the alleged victim] got him to let go.”  People v Ruvalcaba, 2020 NY Slip Op 05354, Fourth Dept 10-2-20

 

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