Opinion
749
August 29, 2002.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (John Stackhouse, J.), rendered December 23, 1998, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the second degree (two counts) and fraudulent accosting, and sentencing her, as a persistent felony offender, to an aggregate term of 16 years to life, unanimously modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, to the extent of vacating the sentences on the robbery convictions and substituting therefor concurrent sentences of 10 years, as a second felony offender, and otherwise affirmed.
ALAN GADLIN, for respondent.
SUSAN EPSTEIN, for defendant-appellant.
Before: Andrias, J.P., Rosenberger, Lerner, Friedman, Marlow, JJ.
The court's Sandoval ruling balanced the appropriate factors and was a proper exercise of discretion. In this case involving a confidence game that became a robbery, the court properly permitted elicitation, inter alia, of the underlying facts of defendant's prior conviction involving a similar confidence game, since that conviction had a very high degree of probative value concerning defendant's credibility, and this probative value outweighed its prejudicial effect (see, People v. Hayes, N.Y.2d [Feb 7, 2002], 2002 N.Y. LEXIS 151; People v. Mattiace, 77 N.Y.2d 269, 275-276; People v. Pavao, 59 N.Y.2d 282, 292).
We find the sentences excessive to the extent indicated.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.