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People v. Garcia

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 31, 2000
268 A.D.2d 596 (N.Y. App. Div. 2000)

Opinion

Submitted December 17, 1999

January 31, 2000

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Rotker, J.), rendered May 8, 19 97, convicting him of murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

M. Sue Wycoff, New York, N.Y. (Edward S. Graves of counsel), for appellant.

Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M. Castellano, Nicoletta J. Caferri, and Sandra Burgos of counsel), for respondent.

CORNELIUS J. O'BRIEN, J.P., GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, ANITA R. FLORIO, LEO F. McGINITY, JJ.


DECISION ORDER

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant's contention that reversal is required due to the prosecutor's improper summation is largely unpreserved for appellate review (see, CPL 470.05[2]; People v. Hinckson, 266 A.D.2d 404 [2d Dept., Nov. 15, 1999]; People v. Candelario, 260 A.D.2d 391 ; People v. Feliciano, 254 A.D.2d 496 ). In any event, the challenged comments do not require reversal. A prosecutor has broad latitude during summation, particularly when responding to defense counsel' s summation (see, People v. Galloway, 54 N.Y.2d 396 ; People v. Reddi, 266 A.D.2d 406 [2d Dept., Nov. 15, 1999]), and here the prosecutor's statements were, for the most part, fair comment on the evidence, or fair response to the defense summation, which extensively attacked the credibility of the People's witnesses (see, People v. David, 266 A.D.2d 288 [2d Dept., Nov. 1, 1999]; People v. Reddi, supra; People v. Lee, 209 A.D.2d 723 ). Furthermore, the evidence of the defendant's guilt was overwhelming, rendering any error harmless (see,People v. Crimmins, 36 N.Y.2d 230 ; People v. Brosnan, 32 N.Y.2d 254, 263 ; People v. Santiago, 265 A.D.2d 351; [2d Dept., Oct. 4, 1999]).

O'BRIEN, J.P., KRAUSMAN, FLORIO, and McGINITY, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Garcia

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 31, 2000
268 A.D.2d 596 (N.Y. App. Div. 2000)
Case details for

People v. Garcia

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. PETER GARCIA, appellant. (Ind. No. 874/95)

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

Date published: Jan 31, 2000

Citations

268 A.D.2d 596 (N.Y. App. Div. 2000)
702 N.Y.S.2d 847

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