People v. Jones

•Judinnc-nt.. Supreme Court, New York County (Rena K. Uviller, J.), rendered August 13, 2013, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second violent felony offender, to a term of seven years, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in precluding evidence that defendant’s friend allegedly told witnesses that he, rather than defendant, assaulted the victim. This hearsay evi dence did not satisfy the reliability requirement for admissibility under the exception for declarations against penal interest (see People…