People v. Romano

The appellant stands convicted of rape in the first degree. It was claimed by the People that the prosecutrix had been criminally defiled on a single occasion by each of a group of men. Whether the appellant was one of the perpetrators was in his case the major issue. The prosecutrix identified him as one of her assailants and swore he had raped her when her powers of resistance had been beaten down in an effort to repulse the others.(1) This testimony needed the support of other evidence (Penal Law, § 2013) which, we think, was lacking. A codefendant was the only witness relied on to…