Opinion
No. 12–285.
2014-03-5
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Ralph FLINT, Defendant–Appellant.
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 A.D.2d 783, 783 [1997].” (People v. Scott, 16 Misc.3d 40, 41 [2007].)