Richard Cridelle - Perjury

Cridelle, Richard ; sexual assault; NRE: no crime, perjury/false accusation, inadequate legal defense

[976:713]; 3rd Dept. 12/19/13; reversed , because one juror was 'grossly unqualified to serve' and jury deliberation took place with less than 12 jurors present

"The charges stemmed from a sexual encounter that occurred between the victim and [Cridelle] during the early morning hours of May 27, 2010. [Cridelle] and the victim each admitted that they had exchanged drugs for sex in the past, but their accounts of the incident in question varied dramatically. According to [Cridelle], he approached the victim in the area of Albany and Backus Streets in the City of Schenectady...inquired as to whether she was 'working' and indicated that he 'want[ed] to get laid,' whereupon the victim agreed to have sexual intercourse with him in exchange for '[a] 40 of crack.' The victim disputed this version of events, contending instead that she agreed to '[h]ang out[,] [d]rink[,] probably smoke' and perform oral sex upon [Cridelle] -- a man she knew as 'Green Eyes' -- in exchange for a quantity of crack cocaine. After driving to a local convenience store to purchase 'some Pepsi, blunt wraps...[,] a box of condoms' and some Starbursts, [Cridelle] and the victim each consumed alcohol, [Cridelle] smoked marijuana and the victim smoked crack. After a period of time, the victim showered, following which [Cridelle] and the victim had sexual intercourse. [Cridelle] contended that the entire encounter was consensual, while the victim testified that she showered only after [Cridelle] started slapping her around and that [Cridelle] thereafter raped her."

"[W]e reject [Cridelle's] contention that the jury's verdict was against the weight of the evidence."

NRE synopsis (by Maurice Possley):

"In the early morning hours of May 27, 2010, police in Schenectady, New York were flagged down by a woman who said that a friend of hers was walking down the street and needed psychiatric help. The officers approached the 28-year-old woman, but she became combative when they attepted to put her in a squad car, punching a bystander on the street. She also accused the officers of stealing her crack pipe."

"Cridelle went to trial a second time in September 2014. At Cridelle's first trial, the prosecution presented the complaining witness's medical records. Some of the records had been redacted and Cridelle's attorney had not challenged the redaction. Cridelle was represented by a different attorney in the retrial, Adam Parisi, who successfully argued that the entire records should be disclosed. The un-redacted records revealed that the complainant had a history of substance-induced psychosis, a condition that involved detachment from reality."

"During cross-examination of the prosecution's toxicologist, Parisi elicited testimony that long-term crack cocaine users suffer from hallucinations and that ingesting crack keeps users awake instead of making them fall asleep. This contrasted with the woman's testimony that she fell asleep while at Cridelle's apartment. Parisi also presented evidence that the woman's urine, which had been analyzed after she was taken to the hospital, contained chemicals commonly found in substances used to 'cut' or dilute cocaine. That finding contradicted the complainant's claim that she fell asleep. The toxicologist admitted during cross-examination that the chemicals in question, ingested in conjunction with cocaine, would have made it even harder for her to sleep.

"In response to the woman's claim that she was a non-violent, passive person, Parisi found police records that linked her to instances of violent behavior -- including a video from a police car dash camera showing her punching a bystander as she was being arrested."

"On September 25, 2014, the jury acquitted Cridelle and he was released."