Opinion
No. KA 06-00778.
November 14, 2008.
Appeal from a judgment of the Oneida County Court (Barry M. Donalty, J.), rendered January 24, 2006. The judgment convicted defendant, upon a jury verdict, of sodomy in the first degree (two counts).
ANDREW M. DUNN, ONEIDA, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
SCOTT D. McNAMARA, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, UTICA (STEVEN G. COX OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
Before: Scudder, P.J., Hurlbutt, Fahey, Peradotto and Pine, JJ.
It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting him after a jury trial of two counts of sodomy in the first degree (Penal Law former § 130.50 [1]), defendant contends that County Court erred in admitting the rape kit in evidence based on an inadequate chain of custody. We reject that contention. The People presented evidence that provided "`reasonable assurances of the identity and unchanged condition' of the evidence" ( People v Julian, 41 NY2d 340, 343), and any deficiencies in the chain of custody were relevant with respect to the weight to be accorded that evidence, not its admissibility ( see People v Madison, 8 AD3d 956, 957, lv denied 3 NY3d 709). We reject defendant's further contention that the court erred in imposing consecutive sentences. "`[T]he offenses were separate and distinct acts, notwithstanding that they occurred in the course of a continuous incident'" ( People v Lucie, 49 AD3d 1253, 1255, lv denied 10 NY3d 936).
We have considered defendant's remaining contentions and conclude that they are lacking in merit.