Opinion
333 758/10.
02-25-2016
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Eugene SMITH, Defendant–Appellant.
Cardozo Appeals Clinic, New York (Stanley Neustadter of counsel), for appellant. Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Shannon Henderson of counsel), for respondent.
Cardozo Appeals Clinic, New York (Stanley Neustadter of counsel), for appellant.
Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Shannon Henderson of counsel), for respondent.
Opinion
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Barbara F. Newman, J.), rendered September 4, 2013, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of burglary in the first and second degrees and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a persistent violent felony offender, to an aggregate term of 20 years to life, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant's mistrial motion made after a police witness made an inadvertent, fleeting reference that implied defendant's parole status. The court's prompt and thorough curative instructions were sufficient to prevent any prejudice (see e.g. People v. Rubi, 19 A.D.3d 139, 140, 796 N.Y.S.2d 90 1st Dept.2005, lv. denied 5 N.Y.3d 809, 803 N.Y.S.2d 38, 836 N.E.2d 1161 2005; People v. Branford, 220 A.D.2d 203, 631 N.Y.S.2d 844 1st Dept.1995, lv. denied 87 N.Y.2d 1017, 644 N.Y.S.2d 150, 666 N.E.2d 1064 1996 ). In any event, any error was harmless (see People v. Crimmins, 36 N.Y.2d 230, 367 N.Y.S.2d 213, 326 N.E.2d 787 1975 ).
FRIEDMAN, J.P., SWEENY, SAXE, GISCHE, JJ., concur.