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People v. Murphy

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 28, 1992
179 A.D.2d 559 (N.Y. App. Div. 1992)

Opinion

January 28, 1992

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Bronx County (Dominic R. Massaro, J.).


This prosecution arises out of the burglary of an apartment by defendant and codefendant in the company of a confidential informant who kept police apprised of the burglary's progress. As a result, the perpetrators were arrested as they left the apartment. When defendant was arrested, he made an inculpatory statement. There is no merit to defendant's argument that the prosecutor, eliciting testimony from a police officer that codefendant made no statement, imputed testimony of post-arrest silence to defendant. With respect to codefendant's failure to object to the court's curative instruction, any claim is waived (People v. Williams, 46 N.Y.2d 1070).

To the extent that there was no written agreement between law enforcement authorities and the confidential informant, defendant has no claim under Brady v. Maryland ( 373 U.S. 83). Since defense counsel was advised prior to trial about the existence of the confidential informant, and elicited during trial that there was an oral agreement that any cooperation would be brought to the attention of the court in which the informant was being prosecuted, defendant was not unduly prejudiced.

Defendant's constitutional claims directed to the prosecutor's summation comments are unpreserved (People v. Iannelli, 69 N.Y.2d 684, cert denied 482 U.S. 914). Defendant's general motion for a mistrial did not allow the court to correct any improper statements at the time they were made, and thus failed to preserve defendant's appellate challenge to the prosecutor's summation (People v. Bruen, 136 A.D.2d 648; People v. Soto, 167 A.D.2d 302, lv denied 77 N.Y.2d 1001). We decline to review in the interest of justice. The challenged summation comments, individually and collectively, did not deprive defendant of a fair trial.

By failing to properly object to the court's charge, defendant has waived any such claim for review (People v. Cruz, 172 A.D.2d 383, lv denied 78 N.Y.2d 964).

We have considered defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be meritless.

Concur — Murphy, P.J., Sullivan, Ellerin, Ross and Kassal, JJ.


Summaries of

People v. Murphy

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 28, 1992
179 A.D.2d 559 (N.Y. App. Div. 1992)
Case details for

People v. Murphy

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. CARLOS MURPHY…

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

Date published: Jan 28, 1992

Citations

179 A.D.2d 559 (N.Y. App. Div. 1992)
578 N.Y.S.2d 575

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