People v. Smith

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Barbara F. Newman, J.), rendered September 4, 2013, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of burglary in the first and second degrees and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a persistent violent felony offender, to an aggregate term of 20 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant’s mistrial motion made after a police witness made an inadvertent, fleeting reference that implied defendant’s parole status. The court’s prompt and thorough curative instructions were sufficient to prevent any prejudice (see e.g. People v Rubi, 19 AD3d 139, 140 [1st Dept 2005], lv denied 5 NY3d 809 [2005]; People v Branford, 220 AD2d 203 [1st Dept 1995], lv denied 87 NY2d 1017 [1996]). In any event, any error was harmless (see People v Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]).