People v Wanton

People v Wanton 2007 NY Slip Op 07748 [44 AD3d 439] October 16, 2007 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
David Wanton, Appellant.

—[*1] Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York City (Karen Marcus of counsel), for appellant.

Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney, New York (Jessica Slutsky of counsel), for respondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J.), rendered December 7, 2005, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of assault in the third degree, and sentencing him to a term of one year, unanimously affirmed.

The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. There is no basis for disturbing the jury's determinations concerning credibility (see People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987]). The victim's testimony was consistent throughout and was corroborated by other evidence.

The challenged portions of the prosecutor's summation did not deprive defendant of a fair trial. Viewed in context, those comments to which defendant objected as impugning defense counsel, vouching for witnesses or shifting the burden of proof constituted fair comment (see People v Overlee, 236 AD2d 133 [1997], lv denied 91 NY2d 976 [1998]). Defendant's remaining summation claims are unpreserved and we decline to review them in the interest of justice. Were we to review these claims, we would reject them. Concur—Lippman, P.J., Andrias, Marlow, Buckley and Catterson, JJ.