Opinion
2013-04-25
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Damon JONES, Defendant–Appellant.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Mitchell J. Briskey of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (David E.A. Crowley of counsel), for respondent.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Mitchell J. Briskey of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (David E.A. Crowley of counsel), for respondent.
TOM, J.P., ACOSTA, ROMÁN, FEINMAN, CLARK, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Laura A. Ward, J.), rendered May 15, 2009, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, and sentencing him to a term of one year, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant did not preserve his claim that the People limited themselves to proving that penis-to-anus sexual conduct was the manner in which defendant endangered the victim's welfare, and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. Defendant's motion for a trial order of dismissal did not make this argument ( see People v. Gray, 86 N.Y.2d 10, 19, 629 N.Y.S.2d 173, 652 N.E.2d 919 [1995] ), and his motion to set aside the verdict had no preservation effect ( see People v. Padro, 75 N.Y.2d 820, 552 N.Y.S.2d 555, 551 N.E.2d 1233 [1990] ).
As an alternative holding, we find that the People never limited their theory of the case to any particular type of endangerment ( see People v. Bess, 107 A.D.2d 844, 846, 484 N.Y.S.2d 268 [1985];compare People v. Barnes, 50 N.Y.2d 375, 379 n. 3, 429 N.Y.S.2d 178, 406 N.E.2d 1071 [1980] ). We similarly find that the verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence ( see People v. Danielson, 9 N.Y.3d 342, 348–349, 849 N.Y.S.2d 480, 880 N.E.2d 1 [2007] ). Even if the People had been required to prove penis-to-anus contact, the evidence warranted the conclusion that defendant engaged in that behavior.