People v. Lopez

131 A.D.3d 878, 16 N.Y.S.3d 723

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Analisa Torres, J.), rendered April 17, 2012, as amended April 20, 2012 and May 25, 2012, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree (two counts) and scheme to defraud in the first degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to an aggregate term of 3 to 6 years, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant’s mistrial motion following a single reference, in an unanswered question by the prosecutor, to defendant being visited at “Rikers” by a defense witness. The court provided a sufficient remedy when it struck the reference from the record and instructed the jury to disregard it (see e.g. People v Dewitt, 126 AD3d 579 [1st Dept 2015]). Moreover, this brief mention of pretrial incarceration was not unduly prejudicial under the circumstances of the case.

Concur — Friedman, J.R, Andrias, Saxe, Gische and Kapnick, JJ.