Opinion
January 31, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Demarest, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The court's charge, viewed in its entirety, explained the concepts of reasonable doubt and the People's burden of proof and made it clear that the defendant bore no burden of proof (see, People v. Coleman, 70 N.Y.2d 817; People v. Canty, 60 N.Y.2d 830; People v. Simpson, 178 A.D.2d 500). The trial court's statements at the end of its charge that "the essence of the jury system" and the "bottom line" are "you are looking for the truth, what actually happened" did not shift the burden of proof to the defendant (see, People v. Jones, 173 A.D.2d 487; People v Graziano, 151 A.D.2d 775).
Those of the defendant's claims of error which were preserved for appellate review concerning the prosecutor's statements during summation, were either fair comment on the evidence (see, People v. Ashwal, 39 N.Y.2d 105; People v. Moore, 191 A.D.2d 591) or fair response to the defense counsel's summation (see, People v Arce, 42 N.Y.2d 179; People v. Stanley, 191 A.D.2d 732; People v Moore, 191 A.D.2d 591, supra; People v. Singleton, 121 A.D.2d 752). Thompson, J.P., O'Brien, Ritter and Altman, JJ., concur.