People v. Grant

• Decision Date: 09 March 2016
• Citation: 26 N.Y.S.3d 483 (Mem),137 A.D.3d 938
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Wilbur M. GRANT, appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

137 A.D.3d 938
26 N.Y.S.3d 483 (Mem)

The PEOPLE, etc., respondent,
v.
Wilbur M. GRANT, appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

March 9, 2016.

Ostrer & Associates, P.C., Chester, N.Y. (Benjamin Ostrer and Marissa Tuohy of counsel), for appellant.

David M. Hoovler, District Attorney, Goshen, N.Y. (Elizabeth L. Schulz and Andrew R. Kass of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Orange County (Freehill, J.), rendered June 13, 2014, convicting him of criminal possession of marijuana in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, and the matter is remitted to the County Court, Orange County, for further proceedings pursuant to CPL 460.50(5).

We reject the defendant's contention that the prosecutor violated the trial court's ruling, in effect, pursuant to CPL 710.30, precluding the defendant's statement to a narcotics investigator regarding the combination to a safe in the defendant's barn, by introducing evidence of the defendant's statement during the trial. The prosecutor did not violate the court's ruling. The defendant's related challenge to the prosecutor's summation is unpreserved for appellate review (see CPL 470.05[2] ), because defense counsel's objection was general in nature and his motion for a mistrial, made after the completion of summations, was untimely (see People v. Malave, 7 A.D.3d 542, 542, 775 N.Y.S.2d 588 ). In any event, the challenged remark was fair comment on the evidence (see People v. Ashwal, 39 N.Y.2d 105, 109–111, 383 N.Y.S.2d 204, 347 N.E.2d 564 ; People v. Weathers, 124 A.D.3d 702, 703, 1 N.Y.S.3d 282 ).

The trial court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in determining that the jury should be required to continue deliberations following jury notes expressing an inability to reach a verdict (see People v. Dacus, 215 A.D.2d 578, 579, 627 N.Y.S.2d 58 ; People v. Bastien, 180 A.D.2d 691, 692, 580 N.Y.S.2d 54 ). To the extent the defendant contends that the court erred in accepting a partial verdict, this contention is unpreserved for appellate review (see People v. Urbaniak, 70 A.D.3d...