| People v Frazier |
| 2015 NY Slip Op 01580 [125 AD3d 551] |
| February 24, 2015 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Darrell Frazier, Appellant. |
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Jan Hoth of counsel),and White & Case, New York (Matthew Nicholson of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Philip Morrow of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Daniel McCullough, J.), renderedJanuary 17, 2013, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of aweapon in the third degree, assault in the third degree, menacing in the second degree(two counts) and criminal mischief in the fourth degree, and sentencing him, as a secondfelony offender, to an aggregate term of two to four years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly exercised its discretion in precluding defendant from calling hismother as a witness since she was not present during the incident and the probative valueof her proposed testimony was outweighed by the risk of confusing the issues,misleading the jury or inviting improper speculation (see People v Corby, 6 NY3d 231, 234-235 [2005];People v Aska, 91 NY2d 979, 981 [1998]). In any event, any error in thepreclusion of defendant's mother's testimony was harmless (see People vCrimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]). Concur—Friedman, J.P., Sweeny, Saxe,Feinman and Clark, JJ.