People v. Stapleton
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 2006-10-19 · cited 11×
The case involved a defendant's appeal from his convictions after a jury trial of aggravated criminal contempt and three counts of first-degree criminal contempt, stemming from an incident in which he punched the victim (causing her physical injury) in apparent violation of orders of protection. The appellate court modified the judgment by reducing one of the first-degree contempt convictions under Penal Law § 215.51(c) to second-degree contempt under Penal Law § 215.50(3) and lowering the sentence on that count to one year, while affirming the other convictions and the aggregate sentence. The court found the evidence legally sufficient to establish physical injury for the aggravated contempt charge, accepted the People's concession that one count did not qualify under the statute, and held that a brief improper remark by the victim did not warrant a mistrial given the immediate curative instruction. Unpreserved claims were not reviewed.
