You are here: / / DEFENDANT’S ABSENCE FROM SIDEBAR CONFERENCES DURING JURY SELECTION...

DEFENDANT’S ABSENCE FROM SIDEBAR CONFERENCES DURING JURY SELECTION DID NOT REQUIRE REVERSAL (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department, over a dissent, determined defendant’s absence from sidebar conferences did not require reversal:

Defendant contends that the court violated the rule in People v Antommarchi (80 NY2d 247, 250 [1992] …) when it conducted several sidebar conferences in his absence and that reversal is required with respect to two of those conferences. We disagree with defendant that reversal is required as a result of any violation of defendant’s Antommarchi rights. It is well settled that a criminal defendant has a statutory right to be present at all material stages of the trial (see CPL 260.20 …), including the sidebar questioning of a prospective juror when the purpose of the questioning is “intended to search out a prospective juror’s bias, hostility or predisposition to believe or discredit the testimony of potential witnesses” … . Nevertheless, “reversal is not required when, because of the matter then at issue before the court or the practical result of the determination of that matter, the defendant’s presence could not have afforded him or her any meaningful opportunity to affect the outcome” … . In determining whether the defendant’s presence could have afforded him or her such an opportunity, the test is whether the record negates the possibility that the defendant “could have provided valuable input on his [or her] counsel’s apparently discretionary choice to excuse those venire persons” … . Thus, reversal is not required where the defendant’s attorney does not exercise a choice to exclude a prospective juror, such as where a prospective juror is excused for cause or where the People have exercised a peremptory challenge to the prospective juror … .

… [W]e conclude that defendant had no opportunity to provide any input that might have affected the outcome regarding the relevant prospective jurors. People v Wilkins, 2019 NY Slip Op 06238, Fourth Dept 8-22-19

 

You might also like
JUDGE SHOULD NOT HAVE GRANTED RELIEF WHICH WAS NOT REQUESTED IN THE MOTION PAPERS, QUESTIONS OF FACT PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON SOME ISSUES IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE (FOURTH DEPT).
THE FINDING THAT DEFENDANT USED THE CONCRETE SIDEWALK AS A DANGEROUS INSTRUMENT WAS NOT SUPPORTED BY LEGALLY SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE; DEFENDANT PUNCHED THE VICTIM WHEN THE VICTIM WAS STANDING, THE VICTIM FELL TO THE SIDEWALK, AND DEFENDANT CONTINUED TO PUNCH THE VICTIM, CAUSING THE VICTIM’S DEATH (FOURTH DEPT).
Parole Officer Was Not Acting “Merely as a Conduit” for the Police In Conducting a Search—The Search Was Related to the Parole Officer’s Duties
IN A MED MAL ACTION PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT NEED NOT HAVE PRACTICED IN THE SAME SPECIALTY AS DEFENDANT DOCTOR TO BE QUALIFIED TO OFFER EXPERT OPINION EVIDENCE (FOURTH DEPT). ​
PLAINTIFF RAISED A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S FALL FROM HER BED IN A NURSING HOME WAS CAUSED BY DEFENDANTS’ NEGLIGENCE (FOURTH DEPT).
COUNTY LAW 308 DOES NOT PROHIBIT DISCOVERY OF 911 CALL RECORDS IN A CIVIL LAWSUIT, INCLUDING THE RECORDS OF 911 CALLS MADE BY NONPARTIES.
TRIAL COURT DID NOT, AS PROMISED, INSTRUCT THE JURY ON THE PURPOSES OF INTRODUCING HEARSAY EVIDENCE OF THE CHILD-VICTIM’S DISCLOSURES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND DEFENSE COUNSEL DID NOT OBJECT; THE MAJORITY CONCLUDED THE ISSUE WAS NOT PRESERVED FOR APPEAL; TWO DISSENTERS ARGUED THE ERROR WAS REVERSIBLE AND DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE FOR NOT OBJECTING (FOURTH DEPT).
THE ALLEGED VICTIM IN THIS RAPE PROSECUTION TESTIFIED SHE PROMPTLY NOTIFIED HER BOYFRIEND OF THE RAPE AND, A FEW HOURS LATER, NOTIFIED HER MOTHER; HER MOTHER TESTIFIED BUT THE BOYFRIEND WAS NOT CALLED; THE DEFENSE REQUEST FOR A MISSING WITNESS JURY INSTRUCTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED ON THE GROUND THE TESTIMONY WOULD BE CUMULATIVE; THE CONCEPT OF “CUMULATIVE” EXPLAINED IN SOME DEPTH (FOURTH DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

UNDER THE TERMS OF THE LEASE AND VILLAGE REGULATIONS, THE HERKIMER COUNTY INDUSTRIAL... IN DENYING A SUPPRESSION MOTION THE JUDGE CAN CONSIDER EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY...