People v. Vaughn

136 A.D.2d 752, 524 N.Y.S.2d 88, 1988 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 15178

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: January 25, 1988
• Status: Published

Opinion

—Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (O’Brien, J.), rendered September 3, 1986, convicting him of robbery in the first degree (two counts), upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

Contrary to the defendant’s contention, the prosecutor’s remarks in summation did not deprive him of a fair trial. The defendant’s objection to the prosecutor’s characterization of a criminal trial as a search for the truth rather than a search for reasonable doubt was sustained by the trial court and immediate curative instructions were given thereby vitiating any possible prejudice (see, People v Galloway, 54 NY2d 396; People v Jalah, 107 AD2d 762). Moreover, the prosecutor’s remarks referring to a former baseball player in an attempt to imply that the defense had employed deceptive tactics were within the bounds of permissible rhetorical comment (see, People v Galloway, supra).

Finally, the defendant’s challenges to the propriety of the trial court’s jury charge are either unpreserved for appellate review or without merit. Mollen, P. J., Thompson, Lawrence and Fiber, JJ., concur.