Opinion
Submitted May 4, 2001.
June 4, 2001
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Greenberg, J.), rendered October 13, 1999, convicting him of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (two counts) and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
Lynn W. L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (Tarik Fouad Ajami of counsel), for appellant.
Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Amy Appelbaum of counsel; Carolyn Vecchio on the brief), for respondent.
Before: GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, J.P., SONDRA MILLER, LEO F. McGINITY, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, JJ.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
There is no merit to the defendant's contention that alleged improper remarks by the prosecutor during summation warrant reversal of his conviction. The summation must be examined in the context of that delivered by opposing counsel and is proper if it is responsive to arguments and issues raised by the defense (see, People v. Russo, 201 A.D.2d 512, 513, affd 85 N.Y.2d 872; People v. Torres, 121 A.D.2d 663, 664). Additionally, a prosecutor may engage in fair comment on the evidence and the inferences to be drawn therefrom (see, People v. Ashwal, 39 N.Y.2d 105; People v. Scotti, 220 A.D.2d 543; People v. Shepherd, 176 A.D.2d 369, 370). The prosecutor's remarks during summation did not exceed the broad bounds of rhetorical comment allowed in closing argument (see, People v. Galloway, 54 N.Y.2d 396, 399; People v. Harris, 209 A.D.2d 432). Rather, the challenged remarks constituted either fair comment on the evidence presented (see, People v. Swindall, 128 A.D.2d 819) or fair response to the defense summation (see, People v. Irving, 265 A.D.2d 575, 576).
The sentence imposed was not excessive (see, People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80).
KRAUSMAN, J.P., S. MILLER, McGINITY and SCHMIDT, JJ., concur.