People v Steele

Holding The court modified the judgment by reducing the conviction of predatory sexual assault against a child to attempted rape in the first degree due to insufficient evidence of penetration. Additionally, the court reversed the conviction for criminal sexual act in the third degree and dismissed that count because the evidence was legally insufficient to support the specific conduct alleged in the indictment.

The court’s words

indiscriminate searches of cell phones cannot be permitted

2026 NY Slip Op 05878, at the official text

defendant failed to create a record sufficient to permit appellate review of his claim

2026 NY Slip Op 05878, at the official text

when, viewing the facts in [the] light most favorable to the People, there is a valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences from which a rational jury could have found the elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt

2026 NY Slip Op 05878, at the official text

being [18] years old or more, . . . commit[ted] the crime of rape in the first degree . . . and the victim [was] less than [13] years old

2026 NY Slip Op 05878, at the official text

tried to put [his penis] inside of [her], but she screamed and cried, and he stopped

2026 NY Slip Op 05878, at the official text

the evidence is not legally sufficient to establish that penetration occurred when the victim was 11 years old

2026 NY Slip Op 05878, at the official text

the evidence is legally sufficient to support a conviction of the lesser included offense of attempted rape in the first degree

2026 NY Slip Op 05878, at the official text

there was no testimony from the victim indicating that defendant engaged in oral sexual conduct with her in May 2023 as alleged in the indictment

2026 NY Slip Op 05878, at the official text