People v Franklin Santana

People v Santana 2004 NY Slip Op 02421 [5 AD3d 798] March 29, 2004 Appellate Division, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, May 26, 2004

The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Franklin Santana, Appellant.

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Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (West, J.), rendered August 15, 2001, convicting him of kidnapping in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, and robbery in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

Although a particular comment that the prosecutor made during her opening statement was improper (see People v Brosnan, 32 NY2d 254 [1973]; People v Kennedy, 216 AD2d 491 [1995]), any error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt (see People v Brosnan, supra at 262). In addition, although the testimony of one of the prosecution witnesses constituted improper bolstering (see People v Trowbridge, 305 NY 471 [1953]), the error was harmless because the accuracy of the bolstered identification was not contested (see People v Johnson, 57 NY2d 969 [1982]; People v James, 262 AD2d 139 [1999]).

The defendant's remaining contentions either are unpreserved for appellate review or without merit. Altman, J.P., Krausman, H. Miller and Cozier, JJ., concur.