NY appellate court upholds wife rapist's 50 year sentence

A New York court has upheld the 50 year sentenced given to Anthony Woods, a Buffalo man, previously convicted of raping women who who is now serving 50 years in prison for raping his wife of 2 weeks. The rape occurred in June 2006, and Woods was arrested after he tried to force the victim to withdraw money from her account. A bank teller heard the woman's screams.

The five-judge Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Rochester agreed with appellate prosecutor Michael J. Hillery that the jury verdict was justified by the weight of the evidence. The court also ruled that the stiff sentence imposed by State Supreme Court Justice Deborah A. Haendiges in September 2007 was “not unduly harsh or severe.”

At the time, Haendiges denounced Woods, a Bennett Village Terrace resident, as “clearly a danger to society.” Woods, 44, is an inmate of Auburn Correctional Facility.

Prosecutors based their case against Woods on a 1994 New York Supreme Court decision which upheld the 1981 conviction of Mario Liberta of Buffalo, a wife rapist who served 7 1/2 years in prison for raping his victim in front of their son.

Erie County Judge Michael F. Pietruszka, according to the appellate court, was correct in rejecting Woods' access to his estranged wife's medical records to impugn her credibility. The appellate court upheld admission of testimony claiming that the victim's rape claims were meaningless because "she's my wife."

Legal Aid of Buffalo, who handles the appeal, may still appeal to the NY Supreme Court in Albany.