Opinion
June 27, 1988
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Hutcherson, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
On April 6, 1984, at about 8:30 P.M., the defendant Michael Cole, along with codefendants Barney Gadson and Ralph Bell, confronted Adum Bawuah on a street in Brooklyn as he stepped out of his parked car. The three men forced Bawuah back into the car, held what seemed to be a gun to the back of his neck, and took a ring, a watch, and $200 in cash from him. Approximately 40 minutes after the robbery, while riding through the neighborhood in a police car, Bawuah identified the defendant and his two companions as the ones who had robbed him, despite the fact that in the interim all three had changed their clothes.
On appeal, the defendant contends that his speedy trial motion was improperly denied. Counsel was present when the People declared their readiness on the record in July and August 1984, well within the statutory period, and there is no indication in the record that these announcements were anything but bona fide (see, People v Jones, 105 A.D.2d 179, affd 66 N.Y.2d 529). In any event, the time chargeable to the People was less than six months prior to the case proceeding to trial. Therefore, the defendant's contention that the People failed to sustain their burden of proof in opposition to his speedy trial motion is entirely without merit.
In view of the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt, the prosecutor's single incautious remark in summation was harmless error (see, People v Crimmins, 36 N.Y.2d 230).
We find no merit to the defendant's remaining contention (see, Richardson v Marsh, 481 U.S. 200, 95 L Ed 2d 176; People v Gadson, 134 A.D.2d 366, lv denied 71 N.Y.2d 896). Mollen, P.J., Lawrence, Weinstein and Balletta, JJ., concur.