People v. Giap

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bernard Fried, J.), rendered December 23, 1997, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 25 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly precluded defendant from introducing, as a statement against penal interest, a tape recording made by defendant’s girlfriend of a conversation that she had with a certain 17-year old, deceased at the time of trial, which allegedly constituted proof that this individual, rather than defendant, was the killer. The record supports the court’s…