During summation, the prosecutor improperly and repeatedly stated unqualified pronouncements of the defendant's guilt, often inappropriately injecting her personal views. She stated, for example, that, "of course he did it. This isn't an issue of who did it". Furthermore, the prosecutor continually vouched for the witnesses' credibility, which is also improper (see, People v. Bailey, 58 N.Y.2d 272; People v. Walters, 251 A.D.2d 433). Additionally, the prosecutor improperly appealed to the sympathy of the jury by commenting that the victim was "courageous" for going to the police and for "coming before you" and that the victim was "ill" but still came to court (see, People v. Robinson, 260 A.D.2d 508).

The prosecutor also repeatedly referred to the evidence as "uncontroverted". This was a veiled and improper reference to the defendant's failure to testify, which improperly shifted the burden of proof (see, People v. Torres, 223 A.D.2d 741; cf., People v. Allen, 127 A.D.2d 840). Lastly, the prosecutor stated several times that the second person at the scene was unable to testify because he could not speak, but implied that if he had, he would have fully corroborated the complaining witness.

While no single remark was so outrageous as to warrant a new trial, their cumulative effect served to deprive the defendant of his right to a fair trial (see, People v. Calabria, 94 N.Y.2d 519). Since the evidence in this one-witness identification case was not overwhelming, we cannot deem this harmless error, and a new trial is required