Opinion
2678
December 24, 2002.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Joseph Fisch, J.), rendered November 19, 1999, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of sodomy in the first degree, and sentencing him to a term of 12 1/2 to 25 years, unanimously affirmed.
Danielle L. Attias, for respondent.
Terence J. Sweeney, for defendant-appellant.
Before: TOM, J.P., ANDRIAS, ROSENBERGER, FRIEDMAN, MARLOW, JJ.
The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. There is no basis for disturbing the jury's determinations concerning credibility (see People v. Gaimari, 176 N.Y. 84, 94). Defendant's theory that the victim's nine-year-old brother may have been the actual perpetrator of this sodomy is unsupported by the evidence.
The court's limited participation in the examination of witnesses did not deprive defendant of a fair trial. The court sparingly exercised its power to clarify testimony and did not in any way convey to the jury that it had an opinion on the merits (see People v. Moulton, 43 N.Y.2d 944).
The court's curative actions prevented defendant from being prejudiced by a detective's unresponsive answer to a question posed on cross-examination, in which the detective revealed the substance of a conversation with the victim (see People v. Santiago, 52 N.Y.2d 865).
We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.