ALBANY – A deeply divided appellate panel has upheld a rape conviction where the defendant was provided with only a sampling of the alleged victim’s mental health records and denied access to information that may have cast aspersions on the accuser and her accusations.
While the Appellate Division, Third Department, majority argued that the withheld records would not have been admissible, the dissent countered that the standard for disclosure is not admissibility but whether the suspect needed and was entitled to the information to prepare a defense.
