Opinion
May 3, 1990
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County, Fritz Alexander, J., Dorothy Cropper, J.
Defendant seeks reversal on the ground of allegedly improper remarks made by the prosecutor on summation. With only one exception at most, there were no objections to any of the prosecutor's remarks at issue. Accordingly, on this record, defendant's arguments are not preserved for review by this court (People v. Balls, 69 N.Y.2d 641; People v. Nuccie, 57 N.Y.2d 818) and we decline to reach the issue in the interest of justice. To the extent that any of the prosecutor's comments may have been inappropriate, the error was harmless in view of the overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt (People v. Morgan, 66 N.Y.2d 255, cert denied 476 U.S. 1120). We do not agree with defendant that inappropriate comments, if any, were enhanced by the Trial Judge's charging the jury that a complaining witness with a morally unsavory background may still be believable, which also passed without objection, even though we have disapproved of such a charge on previous occasions (People v. Wortherly, 68 A.D.2d 158; People v. Leahy, 60 A.D.2d 558). The inappropriate charge and the allegedly inappropriate prosecutor's comments addressed different factual issues.
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Rosenberger, Kassal and Smith, JJ.