People v. Terraine Slide

76 A.D.2d 1106, 908 N.Y.S.2d 414

This text of 76 A.D.2d 1106 (People v. Terraine Slide) 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. Terraine Slide, 76 A.D.2d 1106, 908 N.Y.S.2d 414 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (R. Doyle, J.), rendered September 4, 2008, convicting him of murder in the second degree, burglary in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for a new trial.

On May 12, 2007, the defendant and four other individuals were arrested and charged with, inter alia, murder in the second degree (Penal Law § 125.25 [3]) (felony murder), burglary in the first degree (Penal Law § 140.30 [1]), and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (Penal Law § 265.03 [3]), for their alleged involvement in stealing a wrist watch and marijuana from the home of the victim, Carlton Shaw, who was shot and killed during the course of the burglary on May 7, 2007. The four codefendants entered into plea agreements, while the defendant proceeded to a jury trial.

In a pretrial omnibus motion, the defendant moved, inter alia, for a hearing pursuant to People v Sandoval (34 NY2d 371, 374 [1974]; see CPL 240.43). The People consented to the hearing and in their papers, stated that “[i]f the People intend to introduce testimony of the defendant’s prior bad acts, we will move the Court, in a written application, pursuant to People v Molineux [168 NY 264] with adequate notice to defense counsel.” In an order dated March 11, 2008, the Supreme Court granted the defendant’s request for a Sandoval hearing to be conducted immediately prior to trial. However, no hearing was held, and the People never notified the defendant of their intention to impeach his credibility with respect to any prior criminal, vicious, or immoral acts.

During the jury trial, three codefendants testified against the defendant pursuant to their plea agreements, in addition to other witnesses, while the defendant was the only one to testify on his own behalf. Over defense counsel’s objection, the [1107]*1107Supreme Court permitted the People to question the defendant extensively about two prior arrests: one for shoplifting from a Target store on February 4, 2007, and another for unlawful possession of marijuana on April 20, 2007, as well as about his school disciplinary record, including his several suspensions. The People also questioned the defendant about his mother’s incarceration as a result of an unrelated shooting of another individual.

Although the Supreme Court instructed the jury to disregard some of the questions relating to the defendant’s mother’s past, no limiting instruction was given to the jury with respect to the evidence of the defendant’s prior arrests or bad acts, despite defense counsel’s objections. Defense counsel moved for a mistrial, arguing that the prosecutor’s reference to the defendant’s mother’s shooting arrest was made for the purpose of inflaming the jury and to imply that the defendant had a propensity to shoot another person because of his mother’s behavior. The Supreme Court denied the motion for a mistrial, reasoning that it had instructed the jury to disregard the testimony at the time it was elicited.

In addition, the defendant challenged the voluntariness of his statements to the police by testifying during the trial that they were the product of verbal threats and physical abuse by the police. In this regard, the Supreme Court eventually instructed the jury on the issue of voluntariness, in relevant part, as follows:

“There is testimony that while the defendant was in custody he was questioned by the police and made certain oral and written statements . . .
“Also under our law, if you find that the defendant made the statement as a result of police questioning, you may still not consider it as evidence in the case unless the People have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant made the statement voluntarily.
“How do you determine whether the People have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant made a statement voluntarily?
“Initially under our law, before a person in custody may be questioned by the police, that person first must be advised of his rights. Second, he must understand those rights. And third, he must voluntarily waive those rights and agree to speak to the police. If any one of those three requirements is not met, a statement made in response to questioning is not voluntary and, therefore, you must not consider it.”

The defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree, [1108]*1108burglary in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

On appeal, the defendant argues, inter alia, that his conviction should be reversed, or alternatively, that his sentence should be reduced, because the People violated the requirements of People v Sandoval (34 NY2d at 374), the prosecutor’s questions alluding to his mother’s incarceration were highly prejudicial as they implied that he had a genetic propensity for committing crimes, the evidence was legally insufficient to support the convictions, and the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. In response, the People contend, in essence, that the trial errors, if any, were harmless. On this record, we find that the defendant was deprived of a fair trial and, accordingly, reverse the judgment of conviction and order a new trial.

Criminal Procedure Law § 240.43 provides, in relevant part, that “[u]pon a request by a defendant, the prosecutor shall notify the defendant of all specific instances of a defendant’s prior uncharged criminal, vicious or immoral conduct of which the prosecutor has knowledge and which the prosecutor intends to use at trial for purposes of impeaching the credibility of the defendant.” (See People v Grant, 7 NY3d 421, 424 [2006]; People v Kello, 96 NY2d 740, 743-744 [2001]; People v Adams, 39 AD3d 1081, 1082 [2007].) In its discretion and in the interest of justice, the trial court “must then determine whether and to what extent ‘the prejudicial effect of the admission of evidence thereof for impeachment purposes would so far outweigh the probative worth of such evidence on the issue of credibility as to warrant its exclusion’ ” (People v Montoya, 63 AD3d 961, 963 [2009], quoting People v Sandoval, 34 NY2d at 378; see People v Hayes, 97 NY2d 203, 207-208 [2002]).

Here, over defense counsel’s objections, the Supreme Court permitted the People to question the defendant extensively about his two prior arrests, the underlying facts of those arrests, and his school disciplinary record, without providing him the opportunity to demonstrate whether there would be undue prejudice from the “unnecessary and immaterial development of previous misconduct” (People v Sandoval, 34 NY2d at 378; see People v Adams, 39 AD3d at 1082). Since the Supreme Court failed to conduct a pretrial Sandoval hearing, and the People failed to provide adequate notice to the defendant of their intention to impeach his credibility, the Supreme Court committed error in allowing the People to cross-examine the defendant about those prior bad acts, and thereby deprived the defendant of his right to a fair trial (see People v Beasley, 184 AD2d 1003, 1003-1004 [1992], affd 80 NY2d 981, 982 [1992]; People v [1109]*1109Montoya, 63 AD3d at 961; People v Marrow,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Mateo
811 N.E.2d 1053 (New York Court of Appeals, 2004)
People v. Grant
857 N.E.2d 52 (New York Court of Appeals, 2006)
People v. Danielson
880 N.E.2d 1 (New York Court of Appeals, 2007)
People v. Hayes
764 N.E.2d 963 (New York Court of Appeals, 2002)
People v. Calabria
727 N.E.2d 1245 (New York Court of Appeals, 2000)
People v. Riback
920 N.E.2d 939 (New York Court of Appeals, 2009)
People v. Kello
746 N.E.2d 166 (New York Court of Appeals, 2001)
People v. Romero
859 N.E.2d 902 (New York Court of Appeals, 2006)
People v. . Molineux
61 N.E. 286 (New York Court of Appeals, 1901)
People v. Cefaro
244 N.E.2d 42 (New York Court of Appeals, 1968)
People v. Sandoval
314 N.E.2d 413 (New York Court of Appeals, 1974)
People v. Crimmins
326 N.E.2d 787 (New York Court of Appeals, 1975)
People v. Anderson
364 N.E.2d 1318 (New York Court of Appeals, 1977)
People v. Graham
432 N.E.2d 790 (New York Court of Appeals, 1982)
People v. Beasley
607 N.E.2d 791 (New York Court of Appeals, 1992)
People v. Cotterell
7 A.D.3d 807 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2004)
People v. Farrell
13 A.D.3d 644 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2004)
People v. Adams
39 A.D.3d 1081 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2007)
People v. Salnave
41 A.D.3d 872 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2007)
People v. Dean
50 A.D.3d 1052 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
76 A.D.2d 1106, 908 N.Y.S.2d 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-terraine-slide-nyappdiv-2010.