Opinion
June 5, 1992
Appeal from the Wayne County Court, Parenti, J.
Present — Green, J.P., Pine, Boehm, Fallon and Davis, JJ.
Judgment unanimously affirmed. Memorandum: We reject defendant's contention that the People failed to establish that his victim suffered serious physical injury. Serious physical injury includes a "serious and protracted disfigurement" (Penal Law § 10.00). Here, the evidence showed that defendant inflicted knife wounds on the victim's back, chin and ear. One of the wounds was a deep laceration of the back that cut into the muscle tissue and required more than one layer of sutures to close. The victim received 50 sutures to close the back laceration and three or four sutures to close the chin lacerations. Permanent scars were left on the back, chin and ear. That was sufficient evidence of serious physical injury (see, People v. Williams, 96 A.D.2d 740, 741; People v. Navedo, 47 A.D.2d 773, cert denied 422 U.S. 1011; see also, People v. Steven S., 160 A.D.2d 743, 744-745, lv denied 75 N.Y.2d 969).
We also reject defendant's contention that he was denied a fair trial. Defendant contends that the prosecutor withheld Brady material until one hour before jury selection began. The purported Brady material consisted of Grand Jury testimony by the victim's wife, who was also defendant's occasional girlfriend. Defendant contends that the information would have been relevant to defendant's justification defense. Defense counsel had a meaningful opportunity to make use of the material (see, People v. Cortijo, 70 N.Y.2d 868, 870; see also, People v Brown, 167 A.D.2d 847; People v. Murray, 140 A.D.2d 949, lv denied 72 N.Y.2d 960). Moreover, defense counsel had interviewed the victim's wife before trial, and the information she gave him would not have been helpful to defendant. Thus, we find no Brady violation.
We have examined defendant's other contentions and find them likewise to be without merit.