People v. Holt
| Decision Date | 20 March 1986 |
| Citation | 501 N.Y.S.2d 641,67 N.Y.2d 819,492 N.E.2d 769 |
| Parties | , 492 N.E.2d 769 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. James HOLT, True Name Jerome Smith, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The order of the Appellate Division, 111 A.D.2d 706, 491 N.Y.S.2d 883, should be reversed and a new trial ordered.
Defendant was convicted of stabbing a man to death in a parking lot on West 39th Street, near 9th Avenue, in Manhattan, based upon the testimony of a single eyewitness. At trial, defendant testified that, at the time that the crime was committed, he was 11 blocks away, on West 50th Street, and that, earlier in the evening he had been walking on 8th Avenue, past 39th Street, one-half block from the parking lot, but was never closer than that to the crime scene. The trial court denied defendant's request for an alibi charge, without explanation.
This was error. As we noted in People v. Barbato, 254 N.Y. 170, 178-179, 172 N.E.2d 458. (emphasis in original) (see also, People v. Victor, 62 N.Y.2d 374, 477 N.Y.S.2d 97, 465 N.E.2d 817; People v. Allen, 74 A.D.2d 640, 425 N.Y.S.2d 144). Inasmuch as the gist of the defendant's testimony was that he was elsewhere, and thus someone else committed the crime, he was entitled to an alibi charge in accordance with these principles.
It was also error to permit a police officer to testify, over objection, that he had arrested the defendant after conferring with the eyewitness. Although such implicit bolstering may not...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Holmes
... ... Holt, 67 N.Y.2d 819, 821, 501 N.Y.S.2d 641, 492 N.E.2d 769 ; People v. Jones, 131 A.D.3d 1179, 1180, 16 N.Y.S.3d 328 ; People v. Rankins, 81 A.D.3d 857, 858, 916 N.Y.S.2d 618 ; People v. Nesbitt, 77 A.D.3d 854, 855, 910 N.Y.S.2d 471 ; 89 N.Y.S.3d 677 People v. Clark, 28 A.D.3d 785, 786, 816 N.Y.S.2d ... ...
-
People v. Horton
... ... Contrary to defendant's claim, this testimony did not constitute bolstering of any kind ( compare People v. Smith, 22 N.Y.3d 462, 465466, 982 N.Y.S.2d 809, 5 N.E.3d 972 [2013] ; People v. Holt, 67 N.Y.2d 819, 821, 501 N.Y.S.2d 641, 492 N.E.2d 769 [1986] ). The court likewise properly denied defendant's request for records of the victim's mental health counseling and her purported history of substance abuse. When a witness has a history of treatment for a diagnosed mental health ... ...
-
Johnson v. State
... ... See, e.g. Whalen at 1355; United States v. Reynolds, 715 F.2d 99 (3rd Cir.1983); Berry v. State, 254 Ga. 101, 326 S.E.2d 748 (1985); People v. Billingsley, 184 Ill.App.3d 142, 132 Ill.Dec. 496, 539 N.E.2d 1302 (1989); People v. Holt, 67 N.Y.2d 819, 501 N.Y.S.2d 641, 492 N.E.2d 769 ... ...
-
People v. Salton
... ... Dockery, 215 A.D.2d 497, 626 N.Y.S.2d 525; People v. Jason, 190 A.D.2d 689, 594 N.Y.S.2d 41).While the defendant is correct that there were several instances where testimony by the prosecution's witnesses constituted implicit bolstering ( see 905 N.Y.S.2d 201People v. Holt, 67 N.Y.2d 819, 821, 501 N.Y.S.2d 641, 492 N.E.2d 769; People v. Samuels, 22 A.D.3d 507, 508, 802 N.Y.S.2d 458; People v. Fields, 309 A.D.2d 945, 766 N.Y.S.2d 365; People v. Bacenet, 297 A.D.2d 817, 818, 748 N.Y.S.2d 28), violation of the rule against bolstering does not constitute reversible error ... ...
-
D. Bolstering
...jury evaluate the reliability of the witness's memory. --------Notes:[345] People v. Trowbridge, 305 N.Y. 471 (1953); see People v. Holt, 67 N.Y.2d 819, 501 N.Y.S.2d 641 (1986) (Officer's statement that, as a result of a conversation with the victim, he arrested the accused, was found impro......