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People v. Swaby

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Dec 2, 2003
2 A.D.3d 104 (N.Y. App. Div. 2003)

Opinion

2354.

December 2, 2003.

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (John Moore, J.), rendered November 29, 2000, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 4 years, unanimously affirmed.

Allen H. Saperstein, for Respondent.

Rosemary Herbert, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before: Buckley, P.J., Saxe, Ellerin, Marlow, Gonzalez, JJ.


The court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant's mistrial motion based on the People's summation. The challenged remarks generally constituted fair comment on the evidence and reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, made in response to defense arguments, and the summation did not deprive defendant of a fair trial ( see People v. Overlee, 236 A.D.2d 133, lv denied 91 N.Y.2d 976; People v. D'Alessandro, 184 A.D.2d 114, 118-119, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 884). To the extent that any portions of the summation could be viewed as improper, the court's curative actions sufficed to prevent any prejudice ( see People v. Santiago, 52 N.Y.2d 865).

The court properly ruled that defendant opened the door to uncharged crimes evidence that the court had previously precluded ( see People v. Melendez, 55 N.Y.2d 445, 451-452). Moreover, this evidence was not unduly prejudicial.

We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.

We have considered defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit.

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.


Summaries of

People v. Swaby

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Dec 2, 2003
2 A.D.3d 104 (N.Y. App. Div. 2003)
Case details for

People v. Swaby

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. JASON SWABY…

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

Date published: Dec 2, 2003

Citations

2 A.D.3d 104 (N.Y. App. Div. 2003)
767 N.Y.S.2d 606

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