56 N.Y.2d 584 | NY | 1982
OPINION OF THE COURT
Memorandum.
The orders of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.
After a jury trial, defendants were convicted of robbery in the first degree in connection with the beating and robbing of a man on a Bronx street. Defendant Blackwell was also convicted of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
Defendants argue that the trial court erred in admitting certain testimony by three police officers. The officers testified, over objection, that the victim pointed to defendants when he confronted them shortly after the robbery. There is no question that the testimony of the officers improperly bolstered the victim’s testimony. As such, it should have been excluded (see People v Trowbridge, 305 NY 471). That the officers described the victim’s gestures, rather than his oral statements, is immaterial.
The error in admitting the officers’ testimony, however, must be considered harmless. The standard of harmlessness in a Trowbridge error case is whether “the evidence of identity is so strong that there is no substantial issue on the point” (People v Malloy, 22 NY2d 559, 567; People v Caserta, 19 NY2d 18, 21), sometimes expressed as whether the evidence of identification is “clear and strong” (People v Johnson, 32 NY2d 814, 816; People v Milburn, 19 NY2d 910, 911).
Although the evidence in the instant case was largely circumstantial, it confirms the reliability of the victim’s
Finally, those of defendants’ other contentions that have been preserved are without merit.
Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Meyer concur.
In each case: Order affirmed in a memorandum.