Opinion
570295/16
03-20-2019
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Rafael BAH, Defendant-Appellant.
Per Curiam.
Judgment of conviction (Laurie Peterson, J.), rendered January 13, 2016, affirmed.
The misdemeanor complaint was jurisdictionally valid, since it described facts of an evidentiary nature establishing reasonable cause to believe that defendant was guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree (see Penal Law § 240.30[3] ; see also People v. Dumay , 23 NY3d 518, 522 [2014] ). Allegations that at a specified date, time and location, defendant approached two named individuals and stated "America doesn't approve of homosexuals like you, I choked people like you to death in Afghanistan, if we were outside, I'd beat the shit out of you," while defendant repeatedly pointed his finger in said individuals' faces and stood directly in front of them, were sufficient at the pleading stage to support a finding that defendant made a "genuine threat [to] physical[ly] harm" the victims ( People v. Dietze , 75 NY2d 47, 54 [1989] ) and placed them in reasonable fear of harmful physical contact (see People v. Thomas , 58 AD3d 445, 446 [2009], lv denied 12 NY3d 788 [2009] ; People v. Green , 41 Misc 3d 134[A], 2013 NY Slip Op 51863[U] [App Term, 1st Dept 2013], lv denied 22 NY3d 1139 [2014] ), based on defendant's perception of their sexual orientation (see Penal Law § 240.30[3] ).