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People v. Prise

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jun 26, 1989
151 A.D.2d 787 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989)

Opinion

June 26, 1989

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Greenberg, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

On December 31, 1985, the six-year-old complainant and his father visited the defendant at his apartment. Over the course of the day the father twice left the apartment to purchase liquor and food and during both of the father's absences the defendant sodomized the child by placing his mouth on the child's penis and forced him to look at pornographic pictures.

The defendant's claim that it was error for the child's mother to testify regarding the report of the attack made to her by her son later that night is unpreserved for appellate review as a matter of law (CPL 470.05). In any event, the testimony was admissible for the purpose of showing that the child made a complaint at the first available opportunity (People v. O'Sullivan, 104 N.Y. 481; People v. Gonzalez, 131 A.D.2d 873; People v. Gomez, 112 A.D.2d 445, lv denied 66 N.Y.2d 919). To the extent the mother was permitted to improperly testify as to the details of the attack (Baccio v. People, 41 N.Y. 265; People v. Ranum, 122 A.D.2d 959), reversal in the interest of justice is not warranted because any error in this regard was harmless.

Furthermore, we find no error in the trial court's Sandoval ruling which permitted inquiry into the defendant's 1977 conviction for public lewdness, which, according to the People, resulted when the defendant exposed his penis to a 13-year-old girl on a subway. The court properly balanced the probative worth of the impeaching material against the risk that it might be taken by the jury as an indication of a propensity to commit the crimes charged (see, People v. Bennette, 56 N.Y.2d 142; People v Roberts, 103 A.D.2d 975).

We have examined the defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be either unpreserved for appellate review or without merit. Bracken, J.P., Rubin, Harwood and Balletta, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Prise

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jun 26, 1989
151 A.D.2d 787 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989)
Case details for

People v. Prise

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. JOHN PRISE, Appellant

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

Date published: Jun 26, 1989

Citations

151 A.D.2d 787 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989)

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