People v. Leeson

• Decision Date: 05 May 2009
• Docket Number: No. 70.,70.
• Citation: 12 N.Y.3d 823,908 N.E.2d 885
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Dale F. LEESON, Appellant.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

908 N.E.2d 885

12 N.Y.3d 823

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Dale F. LEESON, Appellant.

No. 70.

Court of Appeals of New York.

May 5, 2009.

John E. Tyo, Shortsville, for appellant.

Dale Leeson, appellant pro se.

R. Michael Tantillo, District Attorney, Canandaigua (Jeffrey L. Taylor of counsel), for respondent.

OPINION OF THE COURT MEMORANDUM.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed. Defendant Dale F. Leeson was indicted for committing sex crimes on various occasions from mid-August through late October 2003 in Ontario County against a 12-year-old female victim. Defendant, who was 40 years old at the time, was a longtime friend of the victim's family. The victim's mother brought the matters leading to defendant's indictment to the attention of the Ontario County Sheriff's Office on or about October 21, 2003.

Beginning in August 2003, defendant spent a lot of time at the victim's home in Ontario County, remodeling a bathroom and generally lending a hand with chores. The victim's mother resided there with the 12-year-old victim, who was enrolled in special education classes during the regular school year, and her 13-year-old brother. Defendant never asked the victim's mother for any money, telling her that he was helping out "as a favor because [she] needed someone around the house." Defendant lavished gifts on the victim, including games and clothing and, in particular, panties; when the victim wanted her belly button pierced, defendant paid for the piercing and a ring; he took the victim to the New York State Fair, accompanied by his brother and sister-in-law.

During the summer of 2003, the victim frequently played at her house with defendant's daughter, who was about the same age. Defendant would drive his daughter to her mother's or grandmother's house in Wayne County in the late afternoon after these "play dates." The victim either asked or was invited to go along on these trips, which often included stops on the way to Wayne County for ice cream and fast food or bowling. The victim claimed that on the return trips to her home in the evening — after defendant had dropped off his daughter — he would pull the vehicle he was driving (usually a white Toyota pickup truck) off onto the side of the road near her house, douse its engine and lights, and engage in sexual contact with her. According to the victim, defendant kept panties in the pickup truck's glove compartment, and sometimes photographed her in a provocative position wearing this underwear during these sexual encounters. No pictures fitting this description were found in two searches of the pickup truck (the first one, warrantless) and a search of defendant's residence.

Twice in late August or early September 2003, defendant took the victim and her brother to Penn Yan in neighboring Yates County, ostensibly to clean a two-story building with a vacant apartment on the ground floor and an office area on the second floor. Defendant cast these trips as an opportunity for the children to earn pocket money. He directed the victim's brother to steam clean the floor in the downstairs apartment on both occasions, although the two trips to Penn Yan were only about a week apart. Defendant then disappeared with the victim upstairs, and locked both the outside and inside doors to the second floor office area, which prevented her brother from entering unannounced. According to the victim, when she was with defendant, he showed her pictures of a sexual nature in magazines (apparently Playboy magazine), and engaged in sexual contact with her. Both times, the victim's brother, after finishing his work downstairs, went upstairs to use the bathroom and to check on his sister. Both times, the victim's brother was forced to wait a few minutes after knocking on the locked door before defendant admitted him into the office area.

The victim's brother expressed misgivings to his mother about what might have been happening between his sister and defendant in the Penn Yan building behind locked doors. She vowed to question the victim, and "told [the victim's brother] just to try to keep quiet about it and talk to [the victim] and see if [he could] get it out of her." At some point in the fall of 2003, the victim's mother observed defendant and the victim lying together on the victim's bed. The victim's blouse was pulled up and defendant was kissing her stomach. When the victim's mother asked defendant what he was doing, he replied that "they were just sitting there talking and he was trying to put [the victim] to sleep." Other times, the victim's mother observed her daughter sitting on defendant's lap or lying down with her head on his lap. Defendant called the victim ...