| People v Dorm |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 00370 [47 AD3d 503] |
| January 22, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v ChrisDorm, Appellant. |
—[*1] Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney, New York (Britta Gilmore of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Robert Straus, J.), rendered June 29, 2006,convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree and unlawfulimprisonment in the first degree, and sentencing him to a term of two months of intermittentincarceration to be served on weekends concurrent with five years' probation, unanimouslyaffirmed.
The court properly permitted the People to introduce evidence of conflicts between defendantand the victim before and after the incident at issue, including evidence of defendant's aggressiveand controlling behavior. To the limited extent that this conduct constituted uncharged crimes orbad acts, it was relevant to defendant's motive, and it provided necessary background regardingthe couple's relationship that tended to explain aspects of the victim's testimony that mightotherwise have been unbelievable or suspect (see People v Steinberg, 170 AD2d 50,72-74 [1991], affd 79 NY2d 673 [1992]). The probative value of this evidenceoutweighed its prejudicial effect, which the court minimized by means of thorough limitinginstructions. Concur—Lippman, P.J., Saxe, Nardelli, Williams and Moskowitz, JJ.