People v. Alford

287 A.D.2d 884, 731 N.Y.S.2d 563, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9949
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedOctober 25, 2001
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 287 A.D.2d 884 (People v. Alford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Alford, 287 A.D.2d 884, 731 N.Y.S.2d 563, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9949 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

—Lahtinen, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Delaware County (Estes, J.), rendered September 29, 1997, convicting defendant following a nonjury trial of the crimes of rape in the first degree, rape in the third degree, sexual abuse in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child.

[885]*885Defendant was indicted by a Delaware County Grand Jury for the crimes of rape in the first degree, rape in the third degree, sexual abuse in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child. The charges stemmed from a November 27, 1996 incident at an apartment in the Village of Walton, Delaware County, in which defendant, then 32 years of age, forced the then 15-year-old victim to have sexual intercourse with him. Convicted of all the charges after a nonjury trial, defendant was sentenced as a persistent felony offender to an indeterminate prison term of 25 years to life on his conviction for rape in the first degree, and concurrent lesser sentences on the other convictions. Defendant now appeals claiming that the evidence was legally insufficient to support each conviction, that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and that his sentence was harsh and excessive.

Defendant initially argues that the evidence presented was legally insufficient to establish his guilt and the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. We disagree. The victim testified that she was born in May 1981 and on November 27, 1996 she went with a friend to Keith Maler’s apartment about 9:30 p.m. where she met and talked to defendant. They first spoke in the living room and then proceeded to a bedroom off the kitchen where, shortly after they arrived, defendant began to take off her shirt. She told defendant to stop but he removed the shirt and, with his arm around her, removed her pants, shoved her on the bed, got himself undressed and raped her. She testified that she repeatedly told him to stop but made no attempt to escape through the bedroom door, which consisted only of a beach towel, or put up a struggle because she “froze” and feared for her safety. She further testified that she did not cry out because she did not believe anyone would hear her because the music in the apartment was so loud. She also testified that after the criminal acts were completed, defendant threatened to kill her and her family if anyone found out. She then got dressed in the bathroom and went to the other bedroom and played cards with her friend. She did not report the rape until December 30, 1996.

Defendant denied that he spoke to the victim that evening, was ever alone with her or had any sexual contact with her. He presented proof that the victim’s accusations surfaced after she was threatened by the mother of his two children with whom he was living at the time. In support of his claim, defendant also points to the lack of corroboration for the victim’s story, the lack of physical evidence, and the victim’s prior documented false report that she was the victim of a sex offense.

[886]*886We find that the proof, when viewed in the light most favorable to the People (see, People v Spaulding, 247 AD2d 762, 764), was legally sufficient to establish all the elements of the crimes for which defendant was convicted. Proof of the ages of the victim and defendant was uncontroverted and, upon County Court’s finding that they engaged in sexual intercourse, the elements of rape in the third degree were established (Penal Law § 130.25 [2]). As to the charge of rape in the first degree, the victim’s testimony, set forth above, was sufficient to establish “forcible compulsion,”

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2018 NY Slip Op 1515 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2018)
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18 A.D.3d 1032 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2005)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
287 A.D.2d 884, 731 N.Y.S.2d 563, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9949, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-alford-nyappdiv-2001.