People v. A.S.

28 Misc. 3d 381
CourtCriminal Court of the City of New York
DecidedMay 11, 2010
StatusPublished

This text of 28 Misc. 3d 381 (People v. A.S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Criminal Court of the City 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. A.S., 28 Misc. 3d 381 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Rita Mella, J.

[382]*382The defendant is charged with assault in the third degree (Penal Law § 120.00 [1]) and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree (Penal Law § 220.03).

In an omnibus motion, the defendant seeks: (1) dismissal of the assault charge on grounds of facial insufficiency; (2) suppression of any identification evidence and testimony against him; (3) to preclude the prosecution from presenting identification and statement testimony at trial for which they failed to give timely notice; (4) to preclude the prosecution’s use of defendant’s prior or subsequent criminal history, or uncharged criminal, vicious, or immoral conduct; and (5) to sever the charges against him for purposes of trial.

The defendant also seeks discovery, submits a demand to produce and a request for a bill of particulars, and seeks reservation of rights to make additional applications based on the People’s production and subsequent case development. The People respond to the defendant’s motion, provide their voluntary disclosure form, and request discovery from the defendant.

The motions are decided as follows.

Facial Insufficiency

As stated above, the defendant has moved to dismiss the charge of assault in the third degree on facial insufficiency grounds. The People argue that the information is sufficient as to this charge.

The relevant factual part of the information in this case, which is signed by a police officer of the Transit Division District 04 of the New York City Police Department, reports that “[d]eponent is informed by a person known to the District Attorney’s Office that said defendant approached said informant and shoved and hit said informant about the body with his fist, causing substantial pain.”

A supporting deposition signed by the informant/complainant was served and filed by the People.

For an information to be sufficient on its face, it must allege “facts of an evidentiary character supporting or tending to support [each] charge[ ]” (CPL 100.15 [3]), “provide reasonable cause to believe that the defendant committed [each] offense charged” (CPL 100.40 [1] [b]), and contain nonhearsay allegations which “establish, if true, every element of [each] offense charged and the defendant’s commission thereof’ (CPL 100.40 [1] [c]; see People v Alejandro, 70 NY2d 133 [1987]).

“ ‘Reasonable cause to believe that a person has [383]*383committed an offense’ exists when evidence or information which appears reliable discloses facts or circumstances which are collectively of such weight and persuasiveness as to convince a person of ordinary intelligence, judgment and experience that it is reasonably likely that such offense was committed and that such person committed it.” (CPL 70.10 [2].)

Failure of an accusatory instrument to allege an element of the charged offense is a nonwaivable jurisdictional defect. (People v Kalin, 12 NY3d 225, 229 [2009]; People v Jones, 9 NY3d 259, 262 [2007].)

In reviewing allegations in an information for facial sufficiency, the court should give such allegations “a fair and not overly restrictive or technical reading,” so long as they provide the accused with “notice sufficient to prepare a defense and are adequately detailed to prevent a defendant from being tried twice for the same offense.” (People v Casey, 95 NY2d 354, 360 [2000].)

Assault in the Third Degree

A person is guilty of assault in the third degree when “[w]ith intent to cause physical injury to another person, he [or she] causes such injury to such person or to a third person.” (Penal Law § 120.00 [1].) “A person acts intentionally with respect to a result. . . when his [or her] conscious objective is to cause such result. . . .” (Penal Law § 15.05 [1].) The result here, “physical injury,” is defined as “impairment of physical condition or substantial pain.” (Penal Law § 10.00 [9].)

The defendant argues that the allegations in the accusatory instrument are merely a formulaic recitation, in particular challenging the sufficiency of the conclusory allegation that the defendant’s conduct caused the informant “substantial pain.” In addition, the defendant asserts that, even taken as true, his alleged conduct does not establish the elements of assault. The People argue that the allegations of the defendant’s conduct provide reasonable cause to believe that the defendant acted with intent to cause physical injury and that the informant experienced substantial pain as a result. Additionally, with respect to the physical injury element, the People respond that because physical injury is not necessarily fully manifested a few hours after the incident when the accusatory instrument is drawn, an allegation that a complainant suffered substantial pain should be sufficient to establish that element at the pleading stage.

[384]*384Physical Injury

As aforementioned, physical injury for purposes of an assault charge is defined as “impairment of physical condition or substantial pain.” (Penal Law § 10.00 [9].) While the question of whether an alleged impairment of physical condition or pain is sufficient to establish physical injury is one for the trier of fact, “there is an objective level . . . below which the question is one of law, and the charge should be dismissed.” (Matter of Philip A., 49 NY2d 198, 200 [1980]; see People v Oquendo, 134 AD2d 203 [1st Dept 1987], lv denied 70 NY2d 959 [1988] [reviewing cases where injuries did not constitute “substantial pain”].) For instance, “ ‘petty slaps, shoves, kicks and the like delivered out of hostility, meanness and similar motives’ ” are not acts that constitute assault. (See Philip A., 49 NY2d at 200, quoting Staff Notes of Temp St Commn on Rev of Penal Law and Grim Code, 1964 Proposed NY Penal Law art 125, at 330; People v Chiddick, 8 NY3d 445, 448 [2007].)

In the instant matter, the court must consider whether the allegations and all reasonable inferences therefrom are sufficient to establish that the complaining witness experienced substantial pain and therefore suffered physical injury. “Substantial pain” is “more than slight or trivial pain” but “need not . . . be severe or intense.” (Chiddick, 8 NY3d at 447.) The Court in Chiddick identified “several factual aspects . . . that can be examined to decide whether enough pain was shown to support a finding of substantiality,” including: (1) the injury that the defendant inflicted, viewed objectively; (2) the complaining witness’ subjective description of what he or she felt; (3) whether the complaining witness sought medical attention; and (4) the motive of the offender. (Id. at 447-448.)

Here, the only allegation as to the alleged assault is that the defendant shoved and hit the complainant about the body with his fist. The accusatory instrument alleges that this caused the complaining witness substantial pain. The court concludes that the utter absence of any description of the injuries allegedly experienced by the informant/complainant renders this accusatory instrument defective, the element of physical injury not being sufficiently alleged.

Of course, at the pleading stage, which generally takes place very shortly after the alleged incident occurred, the court is cognizant of the possibility that the extent of injuries sustained by a complainant may not be known.

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Related

Brady v. Maryland
373 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1963)
People v. Casey
740 N.E.2d 233 (New York Court of Appeals, 2000)
People v. Chiddick
866 N.E.2d 1039 (New York Court of Appeals, 2007)
People v. Jones
878 N.E.2d 1016 (New York Court of Appeals, 2007)
People v. Henderson
708 N.E.2d 165 (New York Court of Appeals, 1999)
People v. Kalin
906 N.E.2d 381 (New York Court of Appeals, 2009)
People v. Rosario
173 N.E.2d 881 (New York Court of Appeals, 1961)
People v. Sandoval
314 N.E.2d 413 (New York Court of Appeals, 1974)
In re Philip A.
400 N.E.2d 358 (New York Court of Appeals, 1980)
People v. Alejandro
511 N.E.2d 71 (New York Court of Appeals, 1987)
People v. Nuccio
575 N.E.2d 111 (New York Court of Appeals, 1991)
In re Jose B.
47 A.D.3d 461 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2008)
People v. Oquendo
134 A.D.2d 203 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1987)
People v. Balan
25 Misc. 3d 88 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
28 Misc. 3d 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-as-nycrimct-2010.