People v. Reyes (Luis)

• Court: Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York
• Decided: June 14, 2019
• Docket: 2019 NYSlipOp 50961(U)
• Status: Published

Opinion

The People of the State of New York, Respondent,

against

Luis Reyes, Defendant-Appellant.

Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County (Phyllis Chu, J.), rendered September 26, 2017, convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal contempt in the second degree, and imposing sentence.

Per Curiam.

Judgment of conviction (Phyllis Chu, J.), rendered September 26, 2017, affirmed.

The accusatory instrument charging criminal contempt in the second degree (Penal Law § 215.50[3]) was not jurisdictionally defective. Defendant's intentional disobedience of the order of protection, which directed him to refrain from communicating with the complainant, is reasonably inferred from the allegation that defendant sent a message to the complainant on Facebook (see People v Inserra, 4 NY3d 30, 33 [2004]; People v Hillard, 59 Misc 3d 144[A], 2018 NY Slip Op 50721[U][App Term, 1st Dept 2018], lv denied 31 NY3d 1149 [2018]). Contrary to defendant's contention, allegations that the complainant knew that the Facebook account that sent the messages belongs to the defendant because she recognized both the profile photo and the name on the account "to be that of defendant," were sufficient "facts of an evidentiary character" (see CPL 100.15[3]) to identify defendant as the perpetrator (see People v Selinger, 48 Misc 3d 1218[A], 2015 NY Slip Op 51161[U],*5 [Crim Ct, NY County 2015)).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.

I concur I concur I concur
Decision Date: June 14, 2019