PEOPLE v. MATTHEWS (2023)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Robert M. Stolz, J. rendered July 14, 2016, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the third degree and criminal contempt in the second degree, and sentencing him to consecutive terms of one year, unanimously affirmed.

We previously held this appeal in abeyance (212 A.D.3d 512, 181 N.Y.S.3d 258 [1st Dept. 2023]) and remanded the matter to Supreme Court for an in camera review of the memo books of two police officers to determine whether they contain Rosario material to which the defense was entitled at trial.

The victim testified that she spoke to two police officers who arrived at the scene following a 911 call, and that the officers wrote down what the victim said had occurred.  We stated that “[n]otwithstanding the existence of other documents, which may have been prepared by an officer at the scene and contained statements by the victim, the court should have conducted an in camera review of the memo book of each of the responding officers, because defense counsel articulated a factual basis for believing that statements of the victim were recorded therein (see People v. Poole, 48 N.Y.2d 144, 149, 422 N.Y.S.2d 5, 397 N.E.2d 697 [1979])” (212 A.D.3d at 512, 181 N.Y.S.3d 258).

Upon review, Supreme Court has concluded that neither memo book contained any recorded statements by the victim to the police, “resolv[ing] any dispute on the issue” (Poole, 48 N.Y.2d at 149, 422 N.Y.S.2d 5, 397 N.E.2d 697).