Opinion
2015-04-22
The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Oswin WILLIAMS, appellant.
Lynn W.L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (Kendra L. Hutchinson of counsel), for appellant. Kenneth P. Thompson, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove, Anthea H. Bruffee, and Melissa King [Davis Polk & Wardwell, LLP], of counsel), for respondent.
Lynn W.L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (Kendra L. Hutchinson of counsel), for appellant. Kenneth P. Thompson, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove, Anthea H. Bruffee, and Melissa King [Davis Polk & Wardwell, LLP], of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Guzman, J.), rendered June 3, 2011, as amended September 12, 2011, convicting him of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol as a felony (two counts) and operating a motor vehicle without head lamps, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
ORDERED that the judgment, as amended, is affirmed.
Contrary to the defendant's contention, the trial court did not err in admitting his hospital records into evidence. The court properly determined that the defendant waived his physician-patient privilege by affirmatively placing his physical condition at issue through defense counsel's cross-examination of Police Officers Daniel Tucker and Delores Mitchell, during which defense counsel attempted to show that the defendant's appearance and behavior were the result of a condition other than intoxication ( see People v. Gonzalez, 239 A.D.2d 931, 932, 659 N.Y.S.2d 591; People v. Feldmann, 110 A.D.2d 906, 488 N.Y.S.2d 455; see also Dillenbeck v. Hess, 73 N.Y.2d 278, 287, 539 N.Y.S.2d 707, 536 N.E.2d 1126).
The defendant's remaining contentions are unpreserved for appellate review and, in any event, without merit.