People v Nisvis
2008 NY Slip Op 08760 [56 AD3d 574]
November 12, 2008
Appellate Division, Second Department
As corrected through Wednesday, January 7, 2009


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

[*1]Lynn W. L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (Michael Dang and Steven R. Bernhard of counsel),for appellant.

Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove, Thomas M. Ross, andClifford Chance US LLP [Christian A. Cavallo and Evan M. Newman] of counsel), forrespondent.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Collini, J.),rendered October 11, 2006, convicting him of criminal possession of a controlled substance inthe third degree (two counts), criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventhdegree, criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, and criminal possession of marijuana inthe fourth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

All but one of the defendant's challenges to remarks made by the prosecutor duringsummation are unpreserved for appellate review, since he either failed to object or raised onlygeneral objections to the remarks, did not request curative instructions when his objections weresustained, and failed to move timely for a mistrial (see CPL 470.05 [2]; People v Almonte, 23 AD3d 392,394 [2005]). In any event, most of the challenged remarks were either responsive to thearguments and issues raised by the defense or fair comment on the evidence (see People v Montalvo, 34 AD3d600, 601 [2006]). To the extent certain of the remarks were improper, they did not deprivethe defendant of a fair trial (see People v Almonte, 23 AD3d at 394).[*2]

The defendant's one preserved challenge was that acomment made by the prosecutor improperly shifted the burden of proof. With respect to thatchallenge, the trial court remedied that impropriety in its instructions to the jury (see People vEvans, 291 AD2d 569 [2002]). Mastro, J.P., Rivera, Covello and Leventhal, JJ., concur.


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