In People v. Henderson , Brian Henderson was convicted of attempted assault in the first degree and sentenced -- as a second felony offender -- to 16 years to life.
Apparently, a fight broke out at Rikers Island, causing injury to Pablo Pastrana, a fellow inmate. Henderson was implicated in the incident and was tried for attempted assault. When Pastrana claimed Henderson wasn't the inmate who attacked him, prosecutors questioned Pastrana's credibility and suggested he was lying because he was intimidated by Henderson. That theme continued through summation when a prosecutor proclaimed to the jury, "[s]nitches get stitches," and that the case was about Henderson's "arrogance and thinking that no one would be here to testify ... against him. He got the victim [Pastrana] to testify for him."
Once summations ended, the defense asked the judge for a mistrial, claiming that the prosecutor improperly implied Pastrana had been coerced into testifying in Henderson's favor. That request was denied by the Bronx County Supreme Court.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, First Department, could discern no prejudice caused by the prosecutor's trial tactics and noted it was appropriate on cross-examination to inquire whether Pastrana's testimony had been forced.
A lone dissenter -- Justice Catterson -- was of the opinion reversal was warranted since the defendant had been "substantially prejudiced by the People's improper comments." Catterson noted that, without evidence of intimidation by Henderson, prosecutors lacked a "good faith basis to question [Pastrana's] credibility."
Will the Court of Appeals be doing some stitching of its own?
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Henderson