People v. Rosario

280 A.D.2d 424, 721 N.Y.S.2d 499, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1939

Opinion

—Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Charles Tejada, J.), rendered March 7, 1997, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 4V2 to 9 years, unanimously affirmed.

After making a thorough inquiry and particularized factual findings, the court properly excluded defendant’s mother and his ex-wife from the courtroom during the trial testimony of the ghost undercover officer, since the record established a “ ‘substantial probability’ ” that the officer’s safety would be jeopardized by their presence in the courtroom (People v Nieves, 90 NY2d 426, 431). Concur — Nardelli, J. P., Williams, Andrias, Wallach and Lerner, JJ.