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People v. Thomas

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 11, 1991
170 A.D.2d 549 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

February 11, 1991

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Appelman, J.).


Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, the verdict is reinstated and the case is remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for the imposition of sentence.

As a general rule, a jury verdict may not be impeached "by proof of the tenor of its deliberations" (People v Brown, 48 N.Y.2d 388, 393; People v Lehrman, 155 A.D.2d 693). The defendant's motion papers, supported only by hearsay allegations as to what one of the jurors purportedly told the affiants, for the most part centered on matters that went to the heart of the jury's deliberative process and reasoning. There was no showing that the jury was improperly influenced by matters going beyond the scope of the trial evidence (see, People v Lehrman, supra), nor was there any showing of any other improper outside influences (see, People v Maddox, 139 A.D.2d 597; see also, People v Paz, 159 A.D.2d 987; People v Washington, 158 A.D.2d 980; People v Hentley, 155 A.D.2d 392). Accordingly, the court erred in granting the defendant's motion to set aside the jury verdict.

Moreover, we note that to the extent that the court granted the defendant's motion on the basis that the People had requested a second calendar call of the hearing to be held on the motion, this was error. There is nothing in the language of CPL 330.30 which empowers a court to set aside a jury verdict for reasons of calendar control. Thompson, J.P., Lawrence, Harwood and Balletta, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Thomas

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Feb 11, 1991
170 A.D.2d 549 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

People v. Thomas

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Appellant, v. KELTON THOMAS…

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

Date published: Feb 11, 1991

Citations

170 A.D.2d 549 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

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