Opinion
2577
December 17, 2002.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Jeffrey Atlas, J.), rendered June 11, 1998, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of two counts each of sodomy in the first and second degrees, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 10 to 32 years, unanimously affirmed.
Meredith Boylan, for Respondent.
Mark W. Zeno, for Defendant-appellant.
Before: MAZZARELLI, J.P., SAXE, SULLIVAN, ROSENBERGER, LERNER, JJ.
The court's supplemental instruction was a meaningful response to the jury's request for a further explanation of the element of forcible compulsion (see People v. Malloy, 55 N.Y.2d 296, 301-304, cert denied 459 U.S. 847; People v. Steinberg, 170 A.D.2d 50, 71, affd 79 N.Y.2d 673). Viewing the supplemental instruction as a whole and together with instructions previously given (see People v. Coleman, 70 N.Y.2d 817), we conclude that the court's response conveyed the applicable principles of law (see People v. Dorsey, 104 Misc.2d 963, affd 89 A.D.2d 521). In any event, were we to find any error in the supplemental charge, we would find it to be harmless in view of the overwhelming evidence that defendant used physical force to compel the victim to engage in sexual acts (see People v. Thompson, 276 A.D.2d 318, lv denied 96 N.Y.2d 973).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.