Opinion
6767 Ind. 3532/12
06-05-2018
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Demari GREENE, Defendant–Appellant.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Svetlana M. Kornfeind of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (R. Jeannie Campbell–Urban of counsel), respondent.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Svetlana M. Kornfeind of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (R. Jeannie Campbell–Urban of counsel), respondent.
Friedman, J.P., Sweeny, Gische, Mazzarelli, Gesmer, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Edward J. McLaughlin J.), rendered September 17, 2013, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the third degree and aggravated criminal contempt, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of two to six years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly permitted the People to introduce evidence of uncharged physical confrontations between defendant and the victim before the incident at issue. This conduct was relevant to defendant's motive and intent (see People v. Dorm, 12 N.Y.3d 16, 874 N.Y.S.2d 866, 903 N.E.2d 263 [2009], and it provided necessary background regarding the couple's relationship that tended to explain aspects of the victim's testimony that might otherwise have seemed less than believable to the jury (see People v. Steinberg, 170 A.D.2d 50, 72–74, 573 N.Y.S.2d 965 [1991], affd 79 N.Y.2d 673, 584 N.Y.S.2d 770, 595 N.E.2d 845 [1992] ). The probative value of this evidence outweighed its prejudicial effect, which the court minimized by means of thorough limiting instructions.