People v. Santiago

174 A.D.2d 520, 571 N.Y.S.2d 27, 1991 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8553

Opinion

—Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Vincent Vitale, J.), rendered July 8, 1987, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the first degree, and sentencing him to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of from 2 to 6 years, unanimously affirmed.

Complainant was robbed of her gold neck chain by the defendant, a person she had previously seen in the neighborhood. Approximately two and one-half months later, complainant saw the defendant, who was wearing the same coat and sneakers as he had when he committed the robbery, in a local supermarket located two blocks from the place where the robbery occurred. Defendant, once arrested, stated to the complainant, "I’m going to kill you when I get out”.

Defendant claims he was denied a fair trial when the prosecutor, in summation, allegedly mischaracterized the defense by arguing that defendant’s own testimony precluded a mistaken identification claim; argued facts not in evidence; and improperly characterized defendant as a welfare fraud. These claims are unpreserved insofar as defendant, at trial, voiced only a single general objection to one of the comments now challenged. In any event, we find the prosecutor’s remarks to have been entirely proper. Concur—-Sullivan, J. P., Rosenberger, Kupferman, Smith and Rubin, JJ.