In People v. Reyes (1st Dept. 1/28/2010), the defendant was a corrections officer charged with Rape 1º and 3º, which stemmed from an alleged rape of an inmate in her cell. The defendant was also charged with Falsifying Business Records 1º and, in the alternative, Falsifying Business Records 2º. Both of the falsification charges stemmed from the defendant's alleged falsification of a logbook entry to create an alibi. A jury subsequently convicted the defendant of only Falsifying Business Records 2º. He had objected to the submission of this lesser-included offense to the jury.
In its analysis, the court noted that, since an element of the higher falsification charge was intent to conceal a crime, an acquittal on the higher falsification charge necessarily "entail[ed] a rejection of an intent to conceal a rape[.]" Thus, the court concluded that an acquittal on the higher falsification charge and a conviction on the lower falsification charge would have been inconsistent, since the People linked both falsification charges in theory. (JTR/LC)
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