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People v. Cruz

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 27, 2004
3 A.D.3d 449 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)

Opinion

2742.

Decided January 27, 2004.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Charles Tejada, J.), rendered November 8, 2001, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 5 to 10 years, unanimously affirmed.

Michael Hanin, for Respondent.

Robert S. Dean, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before: Tom, J.P., Andrias, Lerner, Friedman, Marlow, JJ.


Defendant's unelaborated objections failed to preserve his challenges to background testimony regarding street-level drug operations ( People v. Tevaha, 84 N.Y.2d 879) and to the People's summation ( People v. Harris, 98 N.Y.2d 452, 493 N.Y.2d 18), and we decline to review them in the interest of justice. Were we to review these claims, we would find that the court properly exercised its discretion in admitting brief, limited testimony that assisted the jury in understanding defendant's role in the drug transaction and refuted his claim of innocence. Further, we would also find that the challenged summation remarks generally constituted fair comment on the evidence in response to defense arguments ( see People v. Overlee, 236 A.D.2d 133, lv denied 91 N.Y.2d 976; People v. D'Alessandro, 184 A.D.2d 114, 118-119, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 884).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.


Summaries of

People v. Cruz

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 27, 2004
3 A.D.3d 449 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)
Case details for

People v. Cruz

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. EDWARD CRUZ…

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

Date published: Jan 27, 2004

Citations

3 A.D.3d 449 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)
770 N.Y.S.2d 624