Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Elbert Chambers, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1998-10-27
Citations: 254 A.D.2d 212
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Elbert Chambers, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 254
Pages: 212–213

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Elbert Chambers, Appellant.
[679 NYS2d 572]

Opinion:
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Lawrence Tonetti, J.), rendered August 3, 1995, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the first degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 5 to 10 years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant's motion for a mistrial, since the witness's response about a series of other robberies that had been committed was cut off in midstream and, in any event, was not linked to defendant in particular (see, People v Coursey, 250 AD2d 351, lv denied 92 NY2d 850). Moreover, defense counsel explicitly informed the court that he did not wish to have a curative instruction issued, and defendant's complaint that the witness had acted in "bad faith" is unsubstantiated.
The court's instructions concerning credibility and identification, when viewed as a whole, conveyed the proper principles, including the People's burden of proof with respect to the reliability of the identification testimony.
The court properly admitted limited testimony concerning the complainant's viewing of a photo array since, under the circumstances, the defense opened the door to this matter (People v Straker, 247 AD2d 266). Concur — Milonas, J. P., Ellerin, Wallach and Tom, JJ.