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People v. Walker

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 6, 1992
182 A.D.2d 657 (N.Y. App. Div. 1992)

Opinion

April 6, 1992

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Zweibel, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

At trial Detective Francis Harten, a serologist qualified as an expert, testified that there were several reasons why the victim's gynecological exam, performed after the rape, may have produced negative results regarding the presence of sperm. On appeal the defendant argues that this testimony was speculative and improperly bolstered the complaining witness's allegations of rape. We note that at trial, defense counsel registered an unelaborated, general objection after the witness had already provided a few reasons for the existence of negative test results. This objection was inadequate to preserve the issue for appellate review (see, People v Balls, 69 N.Y.2d 641). In any event, the contention has no merit. Although the detective's testimony was not conclusive on the subject of the negative test results, each of the reasons he gave for explaining those results signified a probability supported by a rational basis. Therefore the expert testimony was not speculative as the defendant claims (see, e.g., People v Bethune, 105 A.D.2d 262). Furthermore, since the detective testified that one possible explanation for these results was that the victim was not raped, his testimony, contrary to the defendant's assertion, did not improperly bolster the victim's allegations. Thompson, J.P., Harwood, Rosenblatt and Miller, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Walker

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 6, 1992
182 A.D.2d 657 (N.Y. App. Div. 1992)
Case details for

People v. Walker

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. BARRY WALKER, Appellant

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

Date published: Apr 6, 1992

Citations

182 A.D.2d 657 (N.Y. App. Div. 1992)
582 N.Y.S.2d 34

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