People v Brown

People v Brown 2014 NY Slip Op 02071 Decided on March 26, 2014 Appellate Division, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

Decided on March 26, 2014
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORKAPPELLATE DIVISION : SECOND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P.
RUTH C. BALKIN
SYLVIA O. HINDS-RADIX
JOSEPH J. MALTESE, JJ.
2011-04418
(Ind. No. 1728/10)

[*1]The People of the State of New York, respondent,

v

David Brown, appellant. Kevin Costello, Flushing, N.Y. (Kristen J. Dubowski of counsel), for appellant.




Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M.
Castellano, Nicoletta J. Caferri, and Merri Turk Lasky of counsel),
for respondent.


DECISION & ORDER

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Lewis, J.), rendered April 18, 2011, convicting him of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (four counts) and conspiracy in the fourth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and a new trial is ordered.

For the reasons stated in connection with the appeal of a codefendant in People v Thomas (AD3d [decided herewith]), the judgment of conviction must be reversed, and a new trial ordered.

Since a new trial is being ordered, we note that the defendant's contention that the Supreme Court's closure of the courtroom during the testimony of an undercover officer deprived him of his right to a public trial is without merit (see People v Echevarria, 21 NY3d 1, 19, cert denied sub nom. Johnson v New York, ____ US ____, 134 S Ct 823; People v Frost, 100 NY2d 129, 137; People v Ramos, 90 NY2d 490, 494, cert denied sub nom. Ayala v New York, 522 US 1002). Furthermore, the defendant's contention, raised in Point II of his main brief, is without merit. The defendant's remaining contentions, including those raised in his supplemental brief, are unpreserved for appellate review and, in any event, without merit.
RIVERA, J.P., BALKIN, HINDS-RADIX and MALTESE, JJ., concur.

ENTER:

Aprilanne Agostino

Clerk of the Court