People v. Dabney

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and a new trial ordered.

*976As the People candidly concede, it was error for the trial court to refuse to admit the redacted portion of the hospital record which indicated an absence of any scratches on complainant’s neck and to allow testimony by the Y.M.C.A. supervisor concerning defendant’s practice of karate. In this case in which the crucial issue at trial was the complainant’s lack of consent (see Penal Law, §§ 130.05, 130.35), the combined effect of these erroneous evidentiary determinations, when viewed…