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WITNESS TAMPERING CONVICTION AFTER TRIAL REVERSED; NO CHARGES WERE PENDING AT THE TIME OF THE COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE WITNESS (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing the witness tampering conviction and dismissing the indictment, determined the evidence was legally insufficient:

On appeal from a judgment convicting him upon a jury verdict of tampering with a witness in the third degree … , defendant contends that the conviction is based upon legally insufficient evidence. We agree. Although the evidence established that defendant assaulted the victim in violation of an order of protection and a few days later left the victim voicemails threatening her with violence if she pressed charges against him, defendant had not yet been arrested or charged with a crime in connection with the violation of the order of protection at the time he left the voicemails. Thus, at that time, the victim was not “about to be called as a witness in a criminal proceeding” … . People v Diroma, 2020 NY Slip Op 07817, Fourth Dept 12-23-20

 

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