People v. Rivera
| Decision Date | 13 February 1990 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Reynaldo RIVERA, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
J.J. Barbera, New York City, for respondent.
E.L. Dembicer, Irvington, for defendant-appellant.
Before KUPFERMAN, J.P., and MILONAS, ASCH, WALLACH and RUBIN, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Dominick R. Massaro, J.), rendered May 29, 1987, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of from three and one-half to seven years, and a concurrent one year determinate term of imprisonment, respectively, unanimously affirmed.
The defendant contends that the prosecutor's summation deprived him of a fair trial. Specifically, he urges, the prosecutor repeatedly vouched for the credibility of her witnesses' testimony. In addition, she argued that the defendant's friend, who testified on his behalf, was not truthful and that his and defendant's testimony was "a story".
Remarks made during summation must be considered in light of the entire trial and the prosecution is entitled to respond to the arguments raised by the defense in summation. See, People v. Galloway, 54 N.Y.2d 396, 446 N.Y.S.2d 9, 430 N.E.2d 885. Here, defense counsel, in summation, questioned the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses. Accordingly, the prosecutor properly responded by pointing out to the jury that the witnesses had no motive to lie. Similarly, calling the defense "a story" was within the rhetorical bounds of Galloway, supra; see, also, People v. Ortiz, 116 A.D.2d 531, 532, 497 N.Y.S.2d 678.
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