People v. Huertas

In People v. Huertas (75 NY2d 487) the Court of Appeals held that the description of the perpetrator which the complainant gave to the police could be introduced into evidence so that the jury could evaluate the complainant's credibility by comparing that description to the physical appearance of the defendant on trial. In other words, the description was offered not for its truth but just for the fact of what she said; and the defendant's appearance was offered as real evidence. The jury was then able to compare the two in evaluating the witnesses' credibility. ( Supra at 492-493.)