Opinion
June 10, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Joan B. Carey, J.).
The second, police-arranged identification of defendant by the complainant followed immediately upon the first, privately and non-police-arranged identification (see, People v. Sanford, 184 A.D.2d 671, lv denied 80 N.Y.2d 934). Although the court offered a Wade hearing when the facts became known, defense counsel declined. The court's Sandoval ruling permitting the People to bring out 5 of defendant's previous 6 robbery convictions, while prohibiting mention of the word "robbery" and the fact that all were committed at knifepoint, was not an abuse of discretion. The prior crimes were not remote, defendant having spent most of his adult life in prison (see, People v. Williams, 186 A.D.2d 469, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 849), and no undue prejudice was otherwise caused defendant by the similarity of the prior crimes to those for which he was being tried (see, People v. Aiken, 162 A.D.2d 106, 107, lv denied 76 N.Y.2d 851).
Concur — Carro, J.P., Rosenberger, Wallach, Kupferman and Rubin, JJ.