| People v Romero |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 06863 [54 AD3d 781] |
| September 9, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Michael Romero, Appellant. |
—[*1] Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove, Shulamit RosenblumNemec, and Joseph A. Schwartz of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Collini, J.),rendered March 2, 2006, convicting him of unauthorized use of a vehicle in the second degreeand operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, upon a jury verdict, andimposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The prosecutor erred in questioning a police witness about the defendant's silence uponreceiving his Miranda warnings (see Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436 [1966]),and in remarking about that silence upon summation (see People v Conyers, 52 NY2d454, 459 [1981]; People v Savage, 50 NY2d 673, 677 [1980]; People v Spinelli,214 AD2d 135, 139-140 [1995]). However, the court sustained defense counsel's objections tothe questioning. Moreover, the evidence of the defendant's guilt, without reference to thequestioning and remarks, was overwhelming, and there is no reasonable possibility that the errormight have contributed to the defendant's conviction. Thus, the error was harmless (seePeople v Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230, 237 [1975]; People v Wong, 201 AD2d 688,688-689 [1994]).
The prosecutor's improper comment in summation, accusing the defendant of an unchargedcrime, was also harmless error (see People v Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230, 237 [1975];People v Castellano, 284 AD2d 406, 407 [2001]). Skelos, J.P., Covello, Leventhal andBelen, JJ., concur.