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People v. St. Pierre

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jun 1, 1987
131 A.D.2d 520 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

Opinion

June 1, 1987

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (O'Dwyer, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The hearing court properly denied that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to suppress the identification testimony of Marie Teti, an eyewitness to the murder. Contrary to the defendant's position, the pretrial identification procedures utilized by the police were not impermissibly suggestive (see, People v Logan, 25 N.Y.2d 184, cert denied 396 U.S. 1020; People v Malphurs, 111 A.D.2d 266, lv denied 66 N.Y.2d 616, 920). Moreover, even if we were of the view that these procedures were improper, it would not require the suppression of Teti's in-court identification of the defendant. The People established by clear and convincing evidence that the in-court identification was based upon Teti's observations of the defendant during the commission of the crime and thus had a basis independent of the pretrial identifications. Teti's aforesaid observations were made under good lighting conditions and in the course of a face-to-face confrontation.

The defendant has failed to preserve for appellate review his claim that he was denied a fair trial as a result of the police officer's testimony regarding Teti's pretrial identification of the defendant (see, CPL 470.05; People v Nuccie, 57 N.Y.2d 818; People v Pipia, 115 A.D.2d 782, lv denied 67 N.Y.2d 888). In any event, we conclude that the admission of this testimony, although error (see, People v Trowbridge, 305 N.Y. 471), does not warrant reversal since any bolstering which may have occurred was rendered harmless in light of the fact that other evidence clearly established the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (see, People v Mobley, 56 N.Y.2d 584; People v Pipia, supra).

The defendant's contention that he was unduly prejudiced by the admission into evidence of the hearsay testimony of Detective Corbett was similarly not preserved for appellate review by reason of the defendant's failure to object to that testimony at trial (see, CPL 470.05; People v Cummings, 109 A.D.2d 748). Moreover, the admission of that testimony does not warrant reversal since the record clearly indicates that the hearsay testimony, a major portion of which was elicited upon cross-examination of the detective, was utilized by the defense in an attempt to demonstrate that the defendant was wrongly accused.

We have reviewed the defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit. Mollen, P.J., Mangano, Brown and Lawrence, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. St. Pierre

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jun 1, 1987
131 A.D.2d 520 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)
Case details for

People v. St. Pierre

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. FRANTZ ST. PIERRE…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Jun 1, 1987

Citations

131 A.D.2d 520 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

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