| People v Marston |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 01986 [71 AD3d 789] |
| March 9, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Hardy Marston, Appellant. |
—[*1] Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove, Anne C. Feigus, andMelissa J. Feldman of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (J. Goldberg,J.), rendered December 15, 2003, convicting him of gang assault in the second degree andcriminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposingsentence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant's contention that he was deprived of a fair trial by the trial court's allegeddenigration of defense counsel is without merit. Although the trial court criticized, in front of thejury, defense counsel's conduct, and made some comments that were less than favorable, thecourt's actions were provoked by defense counsel's misconduct (see People v Gonzalez,38 NY2d 208, 210-211 [1975]; People vMartin, 33 AD3d 1024, 1024-1025 [2006]; People v Man Xing Guo, 271 AD2d700 [2000]). Moreover, any potential prejudice to the defendant was minimized by the trialcourt's instructions to the jury that the court had no opinion about the evidence, and that nothingit said during the trial was intended to convey such an impression (see People v Martin,33 AD3d at 1025; People v Man Xing Guo, 271 AD2d at 700; People v Riddick,251 AD2d 517, 518-519 [1998]).
The sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v Suitte, 90 AD2d 80 [1982]).
The defendant's remaining contentions are without merit. Mastro, J.P., Angiolillo, Balkinand Sgroi, JJ., concur.