Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Byron Shelton, Appellant
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2004-02-19
Citations: 1 N.Y.3d 614
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Byron Shelton, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York Reports
Volume: 1
Pages: 614–615

Head Matter:
[808 NE2d 1268, 777 NYS2d 9]
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Byron Shelton, Appellant.
Decided February 19, 2004
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL
William G. Kastin, New York City, and Lynn W.L. Fahey, for appellant.
Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens (Jennifer Hagan of counsel), for respondent.

Opinion:
OPINION OF THE COURT
Memorandum.
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.
Defendant's claim that the trial court misapplied the "prompt outcry" exception to the hearsay rule when it permitted the complainant's daughter to testify lacks merit. An outcry of rape is prompt if made "at the first suitable opportunity" (People v O'Sullivan, 104 NY 481, 486 [1887]) and "is a relative concept dependent on the facts" (People v McDaniel, 81 NY2d 10, 17 [1993]). In determining that the complaint here was prompt, the trial court properly considered that the rape occurred late at night, that defendant warned complainant not to tell anyone, and that defendant lived in the same apartment building as the 81-year-old complainant;
Defendant's preserved objections to the prosecutor's summation do not merit reversal of the conviction.
Chief Judge Kaye and Judges G.B. Smith, Ciparick, Rosenblatt, Graffeo, Read and R.S. Smith concur.
On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals (22 NYCRR 500.4), order affirmed in a memorandum.