People v. Coapman
The People of the State of New York v. Maxwell S. Coapman
Full Opinion (html_with_citations)
On appeal from a judgment convicting him after a jury trial of, inter alia, two counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree (Penal Law § 130.50 [4]) and two counts of rape in the second degree (§ 130.30 [1]), defendant contends that he was deprived of the right to fair notice of the charges against him because the dates in the indictment on which the offenses allegedly occurred were overbroad. We reject that contention. âIn view of the age of the victim and the date on which she reported the crimes, we conclude that the one-month and two-month periods specified in the indictment provided defendant with adequate notice of the charges against him to enable him to prepare a defenseâ (People v Franks, 35 AD3d 1286, 1286 [2006], lv denied 8 NY3d 922 [2007]; see generally People v Morris, 61 NY2d 290, 295-296 [1984]).
We reject defendantâs further contention that County Court abused its discretion in denying his request for an adjournment to secure the attendance of a defense witness. âIt is incumbent on a defendant seeking an adjournment to procure a witness to show that the witnessâs testimony would be material, noncumulative and favorable to the defenseâ (People v Softic, 17 AD3d 1075, 1076 [2005], lv denied 5 NY3d 794 [2005]; see People v Acevedo, 295 AD2d 141 [2002], lv denied 98 NY2d 766 [2002]). While defendant established that the testimony of the proposed witness would have been favorable to the defense, he failed to establish that the testimony was material. Furthermore, the proposed witness was not scheduled to leave the country until the third day of trial, and the court offered to permit the witness to testify out of order or by video. Because the court afforded defendant the opportunity to call the witness to testify before the witnessâs scheduled departure, we conclude that there has been no showing of prejudice such that it can be said that the court abused its discretion in denying defendantâs request for an adjournment (see People v Peterkin, 81 AD3d 1358, 1360 [2011], lv denied 17 NY3d 799 [2011]).
Contrary to defendantâs contention, the court did not err in admitting in evidence a letter that defendant wrote to his
Viewing the evidence, the law and the circumstances of this case in totality and as of the time of the representation, we conclude that defendant received meaningful representation (see generally People v Baldi, 54 NY2d 137, 147 [1981]), and we further conclude that any deficiencies in the presentence report do not warrant reversal (see People v Singh, 16 AD3d 974, 977-978 [2005], lv denied 5 NY3d 769 [2005]; see also People v Rudduck, 85 AD3d 1557 [2011], lv denied 17 NY3d 861 [2011]). In addition, viewing the evidence in light of the elements of the crimes as charged to the jury (see People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 349 [2007]), we conclude that the verdict is not against the weight of the evidence (see generally People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987]). â[Resolution of issues of credibility, as well as the weight to be accorded to the evidence presented, are primarily questions to be determined by the jury . . . , and the testimony of the victim . . . was not so inconsistent or unbelievable as to render it incredible as a matter of lawâ (People v Witherspoon, 66 AD3d 1456, 1457 [2009], lv denied 13 NY3d 942 [2010] [internal quotation marks omitted]).
Defendant failed to preserve for our review his contention that the court âimproperly penalized him for exercising his right to a jury trial, since he did not raise the issue at the time