| People v Jones |
| 2015 NY Slip Op 04781 [129 AD3d 477] |
| June 9, 2015 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Donnie Jones, Appellant. |
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (NicolasSchumann-Ortega of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Brian R. Pouliot of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Rena K. Uviller, J.), rendered August13, 2013, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree, andsentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of seven years,unanimously affirmed.
The court properly exercised its discretion in precluding evidence that defendant'sfriend allegedly told witnesses that he, rather than defendant, assaulted the victim. Thishearsay evidence did not satisfy the reliability requirement for admissibility under theexception for declarations against penal interest (see People v Settles, 46 NY2d154, 167-170 [1978]), or under a due process theory (see Chambers vMississippi, 410 US 284, 298-302 [1973]). Defendant's friend told defense counselthat he neither committed the assault nor made the alleged statements, the statementswere contradicted by trial witnesses who testified that the friend was nearby but did notparticipate in the assault, the statements were allegedly made to persons closely alignedwith defendant, and recorded phone calls raised suspicion that defendant had madeefforts to manufacture exculpatory evidence. All these factors undermined any reliabilitythis hearsay evidence may have had (see e.g. People v Thanh Giap, 273AD2d 54, 55 [1st Dept 2000], lv denied 95 NY2d 872 [2000]), and it was farremoved from the trustworthy third-party confessions at issue in Chambers.
The court properly denied defendant's application for a material witness order sincehe failed to establish "reasonable cause to believe" that the proposed witness possessed[*2]"information material to the determination" of thecase (CPL 620.20 [1] [a]; seePeople v Parsons, 18 AD3d 317 [1st Dept 2005], lv denied 5 NY3d 792[2005]).
We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence. Concur—Friedman, J.P.,Acosta, Moskowitz, Richter and Feinman, JJ.