People v Flint (Ralph)

[*1] People v Flint (Ralph) 2014 NY Slip Op 50303(U) Decided on March 5, 2014 Appellate Term, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on March 5, 2014
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT
PRESENT: Lowe, III, P.J., Shulman, Torres, JJ
12-285.

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, - -

against

Ralph Flint, Defendant-Appellant.

Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County (Robert M. Mandelbaum, J.), rendered November 16, 2011, after a jury trial, convicting him of endangering the welfare of a child, and imposing sentence.

Per Curiam.

Judgment of conviction (Robert M. Mandelbaum, J. and jury), rendered November 16, 2011, reversed, on the facts, and the accusatory instrument is dismissed.

Defendant's conviction of endangering the welfare of a child was against the weight of the evidence, where he was acquitted of the remaining assault counts, and all of the charges were predicated upon the same prosecution theory that defendant exposed his two children to harm by "punching" the complainants in the children's presence. As the trial assistant emphasized in his closing statement to the jury, "the assaults [were] the essence of this case." "In view of the unitary nature of the People's trial theory, the verdict was inherently inconsistent when viewed in light of the elements of each crime as [presented] to the jury' (People v Crane, 242 AD2d 783, 783 [1997]." (People v Scott, 16 Misc 3d 40, 41 [2007].)

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
I concurI concurI concur
Decision Date: March 05, 2014