From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Payne

Court of Appeals of the State of New York
Jun 3, 1980
407 N.E.2d 1339 (N.Y. 1980)

Opinion

Argued May 1, 1980

Decided June 3, 1980

Appeal from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the First Judicial Department, JOSEPH D. QUINN, JR., J.

Paul A. Feigenbaum for appellant.

Mario Merola, District Attorney (Vida M. Alvy and Billie Manning of counsel), for respondent.


MEMORANDUM.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

Appellant relies principally on two asserted errors. First, he contends that it was error to deny his motion to preclude cross-examination, in the event he took the witness stand, with respect to his 1973 misdemeanor conviction for illegal possession of a pistol. There was no error of law in this ruling which would warrant our disturbing the rejection of appellant's arguments by the Appellate Division (People v Mackey, 49 N.Y.2d 274).

Second, appellant contends that the trial court erred in permitting the prosecutor, over objection, to cross-examine defendant's alibi witness, Archie Miller, as to why he had not gone to the police or to the District Attorney to relate his version of the events to which he testified on trial. This was not error (People v Dawson, 50 N.Y.2d 311). Nothing in the content or manner of cross-examination suggested or implied that the witness was under any duty to go to the police or the District Attorney, and in any event appellant requested no curative instruction (cf. People v Dawson, supra, at p 322).

We have examined appellant's other contentions and find them to be without merit.

Chief Judge COOKE and Judges JASEN, GABRIELLI, JONES, WACHTLER, FUCHSBERG and MEYER concur.

Order affirmed in a memorandum.


Summaries of

People v. Payne

Court of Appeals of the State of New York
Jun 3, 1980
407 N.E.2d 1339 (N.Y. 1980)
Case details for

People v. Payne

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. ABRAHAM PAYNE…

Court:Court of Appeals of the State of New York

Date published: Jun 3, 1980

Citations

407 N.E.2d 1339 (N.Y. 1980)
407 N.E.2d 1339
430 N.Y.S.2d 42

Citing Cases

People v. Martinez

There was no objection to the prosecutor's cross-examination of the defendant's alibi witness as to his…

People v. Koleskor

The defendant's claim, raised for the first time on appeal, that it was error to permit cross-examination of…