People v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 11 February 2016
• Citation: 136 A.D.3d 498,24 N.Y.S.3d 510 (Mem)
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Kevin JOHNSON, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

136 A.D.3d 498

24 N.Y.S.3d 510 (Mem)

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Kevin JOHNSON, Defendant–Appellant.

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

Feb. 11, 2016.

Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Robert S. Dean of counsel), for appellant.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Malancha Chanda of counsel), for respondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bruce Allen, J.), rendered June 27, 2012, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of kidnapping in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and assault in the second degree, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of seven years, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant's nickname, "Danger," was not so inflammatory that he was deprived of a fair trial when the court permitted a witness who knew defendant by that name to use it in his testimony as he described the roles of the participants in the crime. Since defendant never accepted the court's offer to deliver a curative instruction, he failed to preserve his claim that the court should have done so, and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. In any event, any error regarding the nickname was harmless (see People v. Santiago, 255 A.D.2d 63, 66, 691 N.Y.S.2d 22 [1st Dept.1999], lv. denied 94 N.Y.2d 829, 702 N.Y.S.2d 599, 724 N.E.2d 391 [1999] ).

Defendant's remaining claims are similar to arguments this Court rejected on a codefendant's appeal ( People v. Harriott, 128 A.D.3d 470, 9 N.Y.S.3d 228 [1st Dept.2015], lv. denied 26 N.Y.3d 1008, 20 N.Y.S.3d 549, 42 N.E.3d 219 [2015] ), and we find no reason to reach a different result here.

SWEENY, J.P., RENWICK, MANZANET–DANIELS, KAPNICK, JJ., concur.