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People v. Barrett

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Oct 22, 1990
166 A.D.2d 657 (N.Y. App. Div. 1990)

Opinion

October 22, 1990

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Calabretta, J.).


Ordered that the judgments are affirmed.

With regard to indictment No. 2155/85, the defendant asserts that the People's evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he forcibly compelled one of the complainants, then 12 years old, to engage in sodomy and submit to sexual contact, such "forcible compulsion" being an element of sodomy in the first degree (Penal Law § 130.50) and sexual abuse in the first degree (Penal Law § 130.65; see, Penal Law § 130.00). Although the defendant made a general motion to dismiss the indictment based on the insufficiency of the evidence at the close of the People's case, he failed to raise the present claim with specificity. Therefore, this issue is not preserved for review on appeal (see, CPL 470.05; People v Bynum, 70 N.Y.2d 858; People v. Ross, 148 A.D.2d 643; People v Cardona, 136 A.D.2d 556), and in any event, it is without merit.

The defendant's further assertion that the indictments were duplicitous and that the individual counts charged him with the commission of multiple crimes (see, CPL 200.30; 200.50 [3]) has likewise not been preserved for appellate review, no such objection having been made at the trial level (see, CPL 200.30; People v. Iannone, 45 N.Y.2d 589; People v. Caban, 129 A.D.2d 721). In any event, this claim is without merit, inasmuch as the counts complained of did not charge multiple offenses, but merely asserted that the individual offenses charged occurred at some time within certain 30-day periods. Such a time period is not "so large that it is virtually impossible for a defendant to answer the charges and * * * prepare a defense" (People v. Beauchamp, 74 N.Y.2d 639, 641), nor, considering the nature of the crimes and the ages of the victims, is it so excessive as to be unreasonable (see, People v. Beauchamp, supra, at 641; People v. Keindl, 68 N.Y.2d 410, 419; People v. Morris, 61 N.Y.2d 290, 295).

The defendant's final contention, that the trial court erred in sentencing him to a total of 20 to 40 years' imprisonment, is without merit (see, People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80). The concurrent sentences of 2 1/3 to 7 years promised the defendant at a pretrial proceeding if he were to plead guilty to two counts of sodomy in the first degree in satisfaction of both indictments were based upon the defendant's false assertion that he had no prior criminal convictions. In imposing the sentences it did, the trial court properly took into account the defendant's three prior convictions for child abuse offenses, including one for aggravated sodomy for which the defendant served five years in prison (see, People v. Durkin, 132 A.D.2d 668, 669). The facts of this case clearly indicate that the trial court did not improperly increase the defendant's punishment based on his pursuing his right to a jury trial (see, People v. Reid, 140 A.D.2d 639, 641; cf., People v. Brown, 70 A.D.2d 505). Lawrence, J.P., Kooper, Harwood and Balletta, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Barrett

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Oct 22, 1990
166 A.D.2d 657 (N.Y. App. Div. 1990)
Case details for

People v. Barrett

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. EDDIE BARRETT…

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

Date published: Oct 22, 1990

Citations

166 A.D.2d 657 (N.Y. App. Div. 1990)
561 N.Y.S.2d 465

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