Opinion
February 1, 1988
Appeal from the County Court, Westchester County (Cowhey, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
Contrary to the defendant's claim, the People's effort to impeach the credibility of his mother, an alibi witness, regarding her failure to come forward to law enforcement officials with the exculpatory information to which she testified at trial was proper. The prosecutrix's inquiry was conducted in good faith after a bench conference during which defense counsel disclosed that he did not formally advise any potential alibi witnesses to refrain from speaking until nearly three months after the arrest (see, People v Dawson, 50 N.Y.2d 311, 323). A proper foundation for this line of questioning was laid and the trial court properly instructed the jury that the alibi witnesses had no duty to volunteer exculpatory information and that the witnesses' prior failure to come forward could be considered only for impeachment purposes (see, People v Dawson, supra, at 321-323). In short, the dictates of the Dawson decision were in all respect complied with.
We have examined the defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit (see, People v Scarpelli, 117 A.D.2d 686). Thompson, J.P., Rubin, Eiber and Sullivan, JJ., concur.