PEOPLE v. DeJEAN (2008)

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Berkowitz, J.), rendered March 12, 2007, convicting him of manslaughter in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

 Under the circumstances of this case, the trial court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in limiting defense counsel's efforts to show the deceased's propensity for reckless driving (cf. People v. Santiago, 211 A.D.2d 734, 622 N.Y.S.2d 70).

 The trial court properly admitted into evidence photographs of the decedent's body at the crime scene.   The photographs were corroborative of the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and suggested that the defendant had the requisite intent when his car crashed into the decedent's motorcycle.   Thus, we cannot conclude that the photographs had no effect other than to “arouse the emotions of the jury and to prejudice the defendant” (People v. Pobliner, 32 N.Y.2d 356, 370, 345 N.Y.S.2d 482, 298 N.E.2d 637, cert. denied 416 U.S. 905, 94 S.Ct. 1609, 40 L.Ed.2d 110;  see People v. Wood, 79 N.Y.2d 958, 582 N.Y.S.2d 992, 591 N.E.2d 1178;  People v. Stevens, 76 N.Y.2d 833, 560 N.Y.S.2d 119, 559 N.E.2d 1278;  People v. Rhodes, 49 A.D.3d 668, 853 N.Y.S.2d 375).

The defendant's remaining contentions either are without merit or do not require reversal.