People v Mason (James)

[*1] People v Mason (James) 2005 NY Slip Op 52195(U) [10 Misc 3d 138(A)] Decided on December 29, 2005 Appellate Term, Second 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 This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.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 December 29, 2005
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
APPELLATE TERM: 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT:: RUDOLPH, P.J., ANGIOLILLO and McCABE, JJ
2004-103 S CR.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent,

against

JAMES A. MASON, Appellant.

Appeal from judgments of the District Court of Suffolk County, First District (William J. Burke, J.), rendered on January 9, 2004. The judgments convicted defendant, upon a jury verdict, of sexual abuse in the second and third degrees.

Judgments of conviction unanimously affirmed.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People (see People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620 [1983]), the proof as to defendant's conduct was legally sufficient to support the convictions of sexual abuse in the second and third degrees (Penal Law
§ 130.60 [1]; § 130.55). The sexual contact was without the consent of the complainant and there was no credible innocent explanation for defendant's conduct (see Matter of Troy B., 270 AD2d 107 [2000]). [*2]

The trial court's Sandoval ruling was a provident exercise of its discretion. The court struck an appropriate balance between the probative value of the defendant's prior conviction on the issue of credibility and the possible prejudice to him (see People v Hayes, 97 NY2d 203, 207 [2002]).

The defendant failed to preserve for appellate review his contention that the trial court erred in admitting testimony of a "prompt outcry" of a sexual assault (see CPL 470.05 [2]; People v Leveille, 12 AD3d 533 [2004]). In any event, the court properly admitted the testimony in that the prompt outcry was "made at the first suitable opportunity' ..." (People v McDaniel, 81 NY2d 10, 17 [1993]; see also People v Brown, 302 AD2d 403 [2003]).
Decision Date: December 29, 2005