PEOPLE v. GUZMAN (2000)

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York.

PEOPLE of the State of New York, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Julio S. GUZMAN, Defendant-Appellant.

Decided: May 10, 2000

PRESENT: PIGOTT, JR., P.J., GREEN, WISNER and SCUDDER, JJ.

John E. Tyo, Shortsville, for Defendant-Appellant. Brian D. Dennis, Canandaigua, for Plaintiff-Respondent.

Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him of aggravated harassment of an employee by an inmate (Penal Law § 240.32). We reject defendant's contention that County Court erred in admitting in evidence the t-shirt and uniform shirt worn by the correction officer. Although the chain of custody was broken with respect to those items, the People's proof provided reasonable assurances that they were the same as those worn by the correction officer and that their condition was unchanged (see, People v. Miller, 242 A.D.2d 896, 897, 662 N.Y.S.2d 886, lv. denied 91 N.Y.2d 876, 668 N.Y.S.2d 575, 691 N.E.2d 647; People v. Anderson, 99 A.D.2d 560, 561, 470 N.Y.S.2d 946). Any deficiency in the chain of custody affects the weight of the evidence, not its admissibility (see, People v. Miller, supra, at 897, 662 N.Y.S.2d 886).

Judgment unanimously affirmed.

MEMORANDUM:

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