People v. Chatwin

People v Chatwin (2023 NY Slip Op 06336) People v Chatwin 2023 NY Slip Op 06336 Decided on December 12, 2023 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided and Entered: December 12, 2023 Before: Kern, J.P., Singh, Kennedy, Mendez, Rodriguez, JJ. Ind. No. 382/18 382/18 Appeal No. 1179 Case No. 2019-1503 [*1]The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Adam Chatwin, Defendant-Appellant. Twyla Carter, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Paris C. DeYoung of counsel), for appellant. Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Jaime Masten of counsel), for respondent. Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Erika Edwards, J.), rendered November 29, 2018, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of unlawful surveillance in the second degree and attempted grand larceny in the fourth degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 2 to 4 years and 1 year, respectively, unanimously affirmed. The verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 348-349 [2007]). The evidence adduced at trial supports the conclusion that defendant, while masking his conduct as typical phone use, surreptitiously recorded the naked complainant with his phone after a sexual encounter. Defendant's surreptitious intent is further corroborated by the emails he subsequently exchanged with the complainant, in which he attempted to use the video to extort money from the complainant (see People v Schreier, 22 NY3d 494, 498 [2014]; People v Fraser, 159 AD3d 447 [1st Dept 2018], lv denied 31 NY3d 1081 [2018]). THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT. ENTERED: December 12, 2023