People v. Kareem

2017 NY Slip Op 1994, 148 A.D.3d 550, 48 N.Y.S.3d 897

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: March 21, 2017
• Docket: 3447 1265/14
• Status: Published

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Michael R. Sonberg, J.), rendered August 24, 2015, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of attempted assault in the first degree, and sentencing him to a term of 5 years, unanimously reversed, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, and the matter remanded for a new trial.

As in People v Velez (131 AD3d 129 [1st Dept 2015]), the court’s jury charge failed to convey that an acquittal on the top count of first-degree assault based on a finding of justification would preclude consideration of the remaining charges. We find that this error was not harmless and warrants reversal in the interest of justice (see e.g. People v Blackwood, 147 AD3d 462 [1st Dept 2017]; People v Flores, 145 AD3d 568 [1st Dept 2016]). We have considered and rejected the People’s various arguments for affirmance.

Since we are ordering a new trial, we find it unnecessary to reach defendant’s remaining contentions.

Concur — Acosta, J.P., Renwick, Manzanet-Daniels, Webber and Gesmer, JJ.