Summary
In Edwards, evidence of gang membership and expert testimony that the gang to which defendant belonged engaged in random ritual slashings was highly relevant to explain "why defendant, for no apparent reason, would suddenly attack a fellow occupant of a holding cell who had never seen defendant before" (295 AD2d at 271).
Summary of this case from People v. PaganOpinion
1486
June 27, 2002.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Dorothy Cropper, J.), rendered June 9, 1999, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to concurrent terms of 12 years and 7 years, respectively, unanimously affirmed.
LOUIS O'NEILL, for respondent.
SARAH WEINSTEIN GRISSO, for defendant-appellant.
Before: Williams, P.J., Nardelli, Saxe, Sullivan, Friedman, JJ.
The court properly exercised its discretion in admitting evidence of defendant's gang membership. The expert's testimony that the gang to which defendant belonged engaged in random ritual slashings by which members earned advancement within the gang's hierarchy, coupled with the lack of any other discernible motive for defendant's attack on the victim, provided sufficient connection between defendant's gang membership and the crime (see, People v. Tai, 224 A.D.2d 328, lv denied 88 N.Y.2d 942). The evidence was highly relevant to explain why defendant, for no apparent reason, would suddenly attack a fellow occupant of a holding cell who had never seen defendant before. The court's thorough instructions minimized any prejudicial effect.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.