Opinion
August 17, 1992
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Corriero, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant's contention that the prosecutor violated the trial court's Sandoval ruling by questioning him about his drug use was not preserved for appellate review through appropriate objection (see, CPL 470.05; People v. Thomas, 50 N.Y.2d 467; People v. Udzinski, 146 A.D.2d 245). In any event, we note that the defendant opened the door to this line of questioning when, during direct examination, he volunteered that he was a regular drug user (see, People v. Ventimiglia, 52 N.Y.2d 350; People v Rios, 166 A.D.2d 616; People v. Hicks, 102 A.D.2d 173). The record also indicates that the trial court curtailed this line of questioning before the defendant suffered undue prejudice (see, People v. Pavao, 59 N.Y.2d 282).
Further, we find that the trial court properly permitted an expert in the field of child sex abuse to testify. The expert's testimony was offered to help the jury understand why a child victim of sexual abuse might delay in telling someone that she had been sexually assaulted (see, People v. Taylor, 75 N.Y.2d 277).
Although defense counsel failed to object to certain hearsay testimony and to remarks made by the prosecutor during summation, we do not find that defense counsel's performance as a whole deprived the defendant of the effective assistance of counsel (see, People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137).
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People (see, People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620), we find that the defendant's guilt of rape in the first degree and sexual abuse in the first degree was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Furthermore, upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see, CPL 470.15).
We have examined the defendant's remaining contentions, including those raised in his supplemental pro se brief, and find them to be unpreserved for appellate review, and, in any event, without merit. Mangano, P.J., Rosenblatt, O'Brien and Copertino, JJ., concur.