People v. Gutkaiss

206 A.D.2d 628, 614 N.Y.S.2d 599, 1994 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7391
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided July 14, 1994·Published·Cited by 38 cases

Opinion

White, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Washington County (Berke, J.), rendered June 1, 1993, upon a verdict [629]*629convicting defendant of the crime of sodomy in the first degree.

Responding to a child abuse hotline report, State Police Investigator Thomas Aiken on July 27, 1992 interviewed two boys, ages 11 (hereinafter victim A) and eight (hereinafter victim B), who related they were sexually abused by defendant on several occasions in 1987 and 1988. Aiken arrested defendant the next day and brought him to a State Police barracks where defendant gave a written statement denying any sexual contact with the victims. Thereafter, defendant was indicted and, following trial, convicted of the crime of sodomy in the first degree. Defendant appeals.

Defendant’s first argument for reversal centers on the facts surrounding his arrest. It appears that during the summer of 1992 the victims’ stepfather and defendant were engaged in the construction of a camp at Summit Lake in the Town of Argyle, Washington County. In order to effect defendant’s arrest, Aiken had the victims’ stepfather call defendant to have him come to Summit Lake on the pretext that some construction work had to be done on the camp. When defendant arrived at the construction site, he was arrested. Defendant contends that his arrest was unlawful because it was the "functional equivalent” of a warrantless arrest inside a home which is proscribed by the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution (see, Payton v New York, 445 US 573).

We disagree. Although defendant’s arrest was accomplished by means of a calculated police ruse, the deception was not "so fundamentally unfair as to deny due process” (People v Tarsia, 50 NY2d 1, 11; see, People v Rosario, 186 AD2d 598, Iv denied 81 NY2d 794). Moreover, there was no physical entry, no invasion of privacy and sanctity of the home and, most importantly, defendant was not compelled or coerced by the police to leave his home (see, People v Coppin, 202 AD2d 279; People v Roe, 136 AD2d 140, affd 73 NY2d 1004).

At his suppression hearing, defendant testified that when he was arrested he asked Aiken if he had a right to a lawyer and that Aiken said there was no need for one. Aiken, on the other hand, testified that defendant did not request an attorney or invoke his right to counsel when given his Miranda rights. County Court credited Aiken’s testimony over that of defendant and denied defendant’s motion to suppress his written statement. In view of the great weight accorded a hearing court’s suppression determinations, and in the absence of any basis in the record for finding that County [630]*630Court’s resolution of the credibility issue was clearly erroneous, there is no reason to disturb its determination of defendant’s motion (see, People v Carbone, 184 AD2d 648; People v Sprow, 173 AD2d 509, lv denied 78 NY2d 975).

We agree with defendant that the indictment returned against him improperly joined other charges and other defendants (see, CPL 200.40 [1]). County Court, however, properly cured this defect when it granted defendant’s pretrial motion for a severance (see, People v Minor, 49 AD2d 828).

In defendant’s Anew a violation of his constitutional rights occurred when County Court denied him access to the victims’ school, counseling and medical records and the medical records pertaining to the suicide of the victims’ father. Inasmuch as defendant sought these records merely in the hope of discovering material to impeach the victims’ credibility, County Court acted properly in denying defendant access (see, People v Chatman, 186 AD2d 1004, lv denied 81 NY2d 761; People v Chang Gee Kim, 144 AD2d 572, lv denied 73 NY2d 975; People v Tissois, 131 AD2d 612, affd 72 NY2d 75). We note that defendant was not prejudiced by the denial since County Court conducted an in camera rexiew and determined that there was no Brady or Rosario material contained in these records.

We further find that County Court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant’s request for an independent psychiatric examination of victim A since the CPL does not authorize such procedure (see, CPL 240.20 [1] [c]). Moreover, when measured against the traumatic effect this type of examination would have on the victim, there is nothing in the record justifying such an examination in the interest of justice (see, People v Beauchamp, 126 Mise 2d 754).

According to defendant, a few days before trial the People turned over a letter from a doctor indicating that victim A suffered from hallucinations as the result of being sodomized.

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People v. Gutkaiss, 206 A.D.2d 628, 614 N.Y.S.2d 599, 1994 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7391 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1994).

206 A.D.2d 628 (People v. Gutkaiss) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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