People v. Riback

57 A.D.3d 1209, 870 N.Y.2d 517
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedDecember 24, 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 57 A.D.3d 1209 (People v. Riback) 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. Riback, 57 A.D.3d 1209, 870 N.Y.2d 517 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

Spain, J.

In late 2002 and 2003, defendant, a pediatric neurologist, was charged in two indictments, later consolidated, with 39 criminal counts alleging that he had sexual contact with numerous young male patients during medical examinations between 1997 and November 2002. After pretrial proceedings in which some counts were dismissed, defendant went to trial on 30 counts. He was ultimately convicted of 28 counts, 12 felonies—nine counts of sexual abuse in the first degree (see Penal Law § 130.65 [1] [counts 30 and 31], [3] [counts 1, 6, 8, 12, 15, 18 and 35]), two counts of course of sexual conduct against a child in the second degree (see Penal Law § 130.80 [1] [b] [counts 10 and 20]), and sodomy in the first degree (see Penal Law 130.50 [3] [count 14])—and 16 misdemeanors—11 counts of endangering the welfare of a child (see Penal Law § 260.10 [1]), two counts of forcible touching (see Penal Law § 130.52 [2]), two counts of sexual abuse in the second degree (see Penal Law § 130.60 [2]) and sexual abuse in the third degree (see Penal Law § 130.55).

The convictions stem from the testimony of 14 boys, none of whom knew one another (except two were brothers), whose families consulted defendant for their sons’ various neurological problems. The boys described a variety of conduct that occurred for the most part after their parents complied with defendant’s request that they leave the boys alone with him in the examining room, at which time defendant encouraged them to play a “controlled spitting” game with him, tickled, hugged or kissed them or play-wrestled with them, pushed his erect penis against [1211]*1211their bodies, held them upside down by the ankles or had the boys sit or lay on him, during which time defendant’s hands or face came into contact with the boys’ genitals, mostly over clothing (several described defendant’s direct—underneath clothing—contact with their penis), or the boys’ faces were pushed into defendant’s genital area over clothing. All of the contact occurred in the subterfuge of a medical exam by defendant, often accompanied by warnings not to tell anyone.

None of the boys immediately reported the sexual contact that occurred during their office visits, although the testimony established that many of them exhibited strong emotions and behavioral problems immediately after their visits, attempted to avoid further contact with defendant, and described some of defendant’s bizarre conduct such as the controlled spitting game to their parents. Defendant’s conduct was first partially revealed in September 2002, when patient A (the subject of counts 1 and 2) made revelations first to his mother and then to the Town of Colonie Police Department and the Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (hereinafter OPMC), later providing a signed statement to police recounting the extent of defendant’s sexual contact with him in December 2001, when he was nine years old. After another family made a complaint to OPMC, an OPMC investigator referred that patient (the subject of counts 3 through 5) to the Colonie police, and he signed a written statement describing defendant’s forcible touching of him during an examination in January 2002, when he was 14 years old. Based upon these and other allegations, defendant was arrested. After media coverage of the arrest, over 100 people contacted the police and approximately 50 were interviewed, leading to the subject consolidated indictment.

Defendant did not testify at trial, but pursued the defense theory that any unusual behavior by him during patient exams was designed to create a rapport with—and put at ease—his young patients. The defense argued that, only after suggestive and coercive questioning by police and parents, were the boys persuaded to interpret his innocent and benign behavior as having a sexual component, leading to false or mistaken accusations. The defense repeatedly emphasized the boys’ lengthy delays in disclosing defendant’s conduct (ranging from 8 to 37 months) and the fact that most of the boys’ disclosures of sexual contact did not occur until after defendant’s initial arrest, in support of its theory that all of the boys’ sexual contact allegations were the product of the publicity and suggestive questioning.

Upon his convictions, defendant was sentenced to an aggre[1212]*1212gate prison term of 48 years, with five years of postrelease supervision. Defendant’s posttrial motion to vacate the judgment of conviction was denied without a hearing. Defendant now appeals from both the judgment of conviction and, with permission, the order denying his motion to vacate.

Initially, defendant challenges eight of his felony convictions as against the weight of credible evidence. We are not at all persuaded, finding that, given the overwhelming credible testimony, a different verdict would indeed have been unreasonable and, in any event, were we to weigh the probative force of the conflicting testimony and rational inferences to be drawn, we would find that the jury was more than justified in finding defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (see People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 348 [2007]; People v Romero, 7 NY3d 633, 643-644 [2006]; People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987]). The challenged first degree sexual abuse counts (counts 1, 6, 8, 18 and 35) required proof that defendant subjected a person under age 11 to “sexual contact” (Penal Law § 130.65 [3]), i.e. “any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts . . . for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire,” including “the touching of the actor by the victim, as well as the touching of the victim by the actor, whether directly or through clothing” (Penal Law § 130.00 [3]). Three patients in the challenged counts described defendant’s touching of their genitals over clothing: patient A testified that defendant had him sit on defendant’s chest and pushed the boy’s penis into defendant’s face (count 1); patient B described defendant placing his face in the boy’s penis area and rubbing, an incident that was witnessed by patient B’s mother, who also testified (count 6); and patient E recounted that defendant touched his penis and testicles (count 35). Patient C testified that defendant touched his penis over and underneath his clothing, and his adult sister testified that defendant had an erection before the family left the boy alone in the examination room with defendant (count 8). Patient D described how defendant had him lie on top of him, and defendant pushed the boy’s head into his groin, and also how defendant held him upside down by the ankles causing the boy’s face to make contact with defendant’s genital area (count 18). The foregoing convincingly established that, in each instance, sexual contact occurred, and that it was for the purpose of defendant’s sexual gratification, the latter being a subjective inquiry readily inferable from defendant’s conduct and intimate genital contact with nonrelatives with no medical justification (see People v [1213]*1213Watson, 281 AD2d 691, 697-698 [2001], lv denied 96 NY2d 925 [2001]; see also People v Hill, 34 AD3d 1130, 1131 [2006]).1

Defendant also challenges—as against the weight of the evidence—his convictions for course of sexual conduct against a child in the second degree (counts 10 and 20), which requires proof that, over a period not less than three months, defendant, being over age 18, engaged in two or more acts of sexual conduct with a child less than age 13 (see Penal Law § 130.80 [1] [b]).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
57 A.D.3d 1209, 870 N.Y.2d 517, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-riback-nyappdiv-2008.