People v. Williams
| Decision Date | 22 August 2019 |
| Docket Number | 581,KA 18–00728 |
| Citation | 175 A.D.3d 980,108 N.Y.S.3d 584 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Shala WILLIAMS, Defendant–Appellant. (Appeal No. 2.) |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
175 A.D.3d 980
108 N.Y.S.3d 584
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Shala WILLIAMS, Defendant–Appellant. (Appeal No. 2.)
581
KA 18–00728
Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York.
Entered: August 22, 2019
JOHN R. LEWIS, SLEEPY HOLLOW, FOR DEFENDANT–APPELLANT.
WILLIAM J. FITZPATRICK, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SYRACUSE (KENNETH H. TYLER, JR., OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
PRESENT: WHALEN, P.J., SMITH, CARNI, NEMOYER, AND CURRAN, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously reversed on the law and the matter is remitted to Onondaga County Court for a hearing pursuant to CPL 440.30(5) in accordance with the following memorandum: In appeal No. 1, defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon
a jury verdict of, inter alia, murder in the second degree ( Penal Law § 125.25[1] ). In appeal No. 2, defendant appeals from an order denying his CPL 440.10 motion to vacate the judgment of conviction on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel.
Defendant contends in appeal No. 1 that County Court (Fahey, J.) erred in determining, following a Sirois hearing, that the People "demonstrate[d] by clear and convincing evidence that [he] engaged in misconduct aimed at least in part at preventing [a] witness from testifying and that those misdeeds were a significant cause of the witness's decision not to testify" ( People v. Smart , 23 N.Y.3d 213, 220, 989 N.Y.S.2d 631, 12 N.E.3d 1061 [2014] ) and that, consequently, the court erred in permitting the prosecution to elicit testimony concerning hearsay statements attributed to that witness in its direct case (see generally People v. Geraci , 85 N.Y.2d 359, 365–367, 625 N.Y.S.2d 469, 649 N.E.2d 817 [1995] ; People v. Vernon , 136 A.D.3d 1276, 1277–1278, 25 N.Y.S.3d 755 [4th Dept. 2016], lv. denied 27 N.Y.3d 1076, 38 N.Y.S.3d 846, 60 N.E.3d 1212 [2016] ). We reject that contention. The court found that the witness, while testifying at the Sirois hearing, appeared "agitated, anxious, uncomfortable and evasive." The court also credited the testimony of a law enforcement officer that, according to the witness, defendant confronted the witness with a photograph of that witness approximately one week prior to trial and informed him that defendant was aware of the witness's upcoming testimony, and the witness asserted afterward that he would not testify. We further reject defendant's contention that the hearsay statement attributed to the witness at trial regarding defendant's purported admission to him was "so devoid of reliability as to offend due process" ( People v. Cotto , 92...
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