People v. Benjudah

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

People v. Benjudah

281 A.D.2d 554, 721 N.Y.S.2d 811, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2634

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided March 19, 2001·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

—Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Blumenfeld, J.), rendered March 17, 1999, convicting him of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

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

The defendant contends that the Supreme Court erred in denying his request to charge the jury that one of the People’s witnesses was an accomplice as a matter of law, and that his testimony therefore required corroboration (see, CPL 60.22). Under the circumstances, the witness is considered an accomplice as a matter of law, and the jury should have been instructed accordingly (see, People v Sweet, 78 NY2d 263; CPL 60.22). Since the error was not harmless, we reverse and order a new trial.

In light of the above determination, we need not address the defendant’s remaining contentions. Santucci, J. P., S. Miller, Goldstein and Smith, JJ., concur.

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—Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Blumenfeld, J.), rendered March 17, 1999, convicting him of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

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

The defendant contends that the Supreme Court erred in denying his request to charge the jury that one of the People’s witnesses was an accomplice as a matter of law, and that his testimony therefore required corroboration (see, CPL 60.22). Under the circumstances, the witness is considered an accomplice as a matter of law, and the jury should have been instructed accordingly (see, People v Sweet, 78 NY2d 263; CPL 60.22). Since the error was not harmless, we reverse and order a new trial.

In light of the above determination, we need not address the defendant’s remaining contentions. Santucci, J. P., S. Miller, Goldstein and Smith, JJ., concur.

People v. Benjudah, 281 A.D.2d 554, 721 N.Y.S.2d 811, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2634 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2001).

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