Opinion
February 20, 1962
Present — Bergan, P.J., Coon, Gibson, Herlihy and Taylor, JJ.
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Saratoga County of conviction of sodomy, second degree, and assault, second degree. The court charged that the complaining witness was an accomplice and that defendant could not be convicted upon the accomplice's testimony as to the acts charged except upon "independent and corroborative proof tending to connect the defendant with the commission of the alleged crimes". (See Code Crim. Pro., § 399.) Defendant's only exception to the charge (repeated in but slightly different form), and his sole objection urged on this appeal, was as to the court's refusal of his request to charge "that if the jury find no other corroboration other [ sic] than statements made to the police officers, they must acquit." Clearly, however, the testimony of various police officers as to defendant's oral admissions of the specific sodomous acts charged was sufficient corroboration ( People v. Masiano, 253 App. Div. 454; People v. Bodenstein, 240 App. Div. 849; 7 Wigmore, Evidence, § 2059, p. 327, and footnotes 6, 7 in text and in supplement) and People v. Doyle ( 304 N.Y. 120), upon which defendant solely relies, is not to the contrary. While that case turned upon the conclusion, as expressed in the majority opinion, that a certain statement given by the defendant to a police officer did not constitute sufficient corroboration, the acts detailed in the statement (quoted in the dissenting opinion) did not necessarily evince criminality or relate to a criminal act; and the record on appeal discloses, further, that the police officer testified that when defendant was asked whether he had committed the sodomous acts alleged, he stated that he had not. Judgment unanimously affirmed.