Determining 'Molineux' Issues in Civil and Criminal Actions: A Suggested Approach
This column will set forth a suggested specific approach to determine the admissibility of uncharged crimes or bad acts of a party in either a civil or criminal action.
October 03, 2024 at 12:00 PM
12 minute read
EvidenceThe Court of Appeals in its 2023-2024 term reversed the criminal convictions of two well-known defendants, Sebastian Telfair, the former New York City high school basketball star and retired National Basketball Association player and Harvey Weinstein, the famed Hollywood film producer. Telfair had been convicted of the crime of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (Penal Law Section 265.03[5]) and Weinstein was convicted of first-degree criminal act (Penal Law Section 130.50[1] [repealed effective Sept. 1, 2024 – L. 2023, c. 771, Section 1]) and third-degree rape. (Penal Law Section 130.35[1]). Both convictions were reversed by a divided (4-3) Court of Appeals on the ground the trial judge in both cases erred as a matter of law in admitting evidence of alleged prior bad acts committed by Telfair, evidence involving Telfair's possession of a weapon and his conviction for weapon possession, and by Weinstein, testimony of four women detailing sexual assaults Weinstein allegedly committed against them. Admission of this evidence, the majority held, constituted a violation of New York's venerable Molineux rule. (People v. Telfair, 41 NY3d 107 [2023]; People v. Weinstein, 2024 NY Slip Op. 02222 [April 25, 2024]).
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