Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1997

People v. Sellars

People v. Sellars
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided February 6, 1997
236 A.D.2d 228; 654 N.Y.S.2d 285
People v. Sellars

Opinion of the Court

—Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Jerome Hornblass, J.), rendered June 1, 1994, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a persistent violent felony offender, to a term of 7 years to life, unanimously reversed, on the law, and the matter remanded for a new trial.

As the People concede, reversal is required because the court improperly ruled that the prosecutor could question defendant about unrelated pending criminal charges (see, People v Betts, 70 NY2d 289, 292-295). Contrary to the court’s ruling, this evidence was not admissible on the issue of intent. Accordingly, we remand the matter for a new trial. Concur—Wallach, J. P., Nardelli, Williams and Tom, JJ.

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