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People v. Gifford

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Feb 7, 2001
280 A.D.2d 967 (N.Y. App. Div. 2001)

Opinion

February 7, 2001.

Appeal from Judgment of Monroe County Court, Marks, J.— Attempted Rape, 1st Degree.

Pigott, Jr., P. J., Pine, Hurlbutt, Kehoe and Lawton, JJ.


Judgment unanimously affirmed.

Memorandum: We reject the contention of defendant that County Court erred in admitting evidence concerning the procedures used in administering a voice stress test to defendant. Defendant challenged the voluntariness of the statement that he made to police after the test was administered, and thus that evidence was admissible ( see, People v. Tarsia, 50 N.Y.2d 1, 8-9; see generally, People v. Deskovic, 201 A.D.2d 579, 580, lv denied 83 N.Y.2d 1003). Although we agree with defendant that the results of that test should not have been admitted ( see, People v. Hughes, 88 A.D.2d 17, 20, affd 59 N.Y.2d 523), we conclude that the court's curative instructions rendered the error harmless ( see generally, People v. Hopkins, 86 A.D.2d 937, 940, affd 58 N.Y.2d 1079).

We reject the further contention of defendant that the court abused its discretion in prohibiting defendant from cross-examining the victim concerning an alleged prior false accusation of sexual misconduct. Defendant was required to demonstrate both that the prior accusation was "indeed false" and that the prior accusation was "such as to suggest a pattern casting substantial doubt on the validity of the charges made by the victim in this instance" ( People v. Mandel, 48 N.Y.2d 952, 953, appeal dismissed and cert denied 446 U.S. 949, reh denied 448 U.S. 908). Defendant failed to make the requisite showing.


Summaries of

People v. Gifford

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Feb 7, 2001
280 A.D.2d 967 (N.Y. App. Div. 2001)
Case details for

People v. Gifford

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, RESPONDENT, v. CHRISTOPHER GIFFORD…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department

Date published: Feb 7, 2001

Citations

280 A.D.2d 967 (N.Y. App. Div. 2001)
720 N.Y.S.2d 876

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