People v. Webb — 176 A.D.2d 546

Majority

p. 546

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Spud Webb, Appellant.

— Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Jerome Hornblass, J.), rendered May 19, 1988, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the first degree, and sentencing him to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of 9 to 18 years, unanimously affirmed.

The trial court’s Sandoval ruling, permitting the People to inquire how many times the defendant had been convicted, and whether he had ever been convicted of a felony, without inquiry into the underlying facts, was not an abuse of discretion. (See generally, People v Hicks, 88 AD2d 519 .) While the court did not charge the jury that the evidence of the prior crimes was to be used only in assessing defendant’s credibility,

p. 547

the record of this claim is unpreserved and there is no significant probability that the jury would have acquitted defendant if a pattern jury instruction (1 CJI[NY] 7.21) had been given, in view of the overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt.

We have considered defendant’s remaining claims, and find them meritless or unpreserved. Concur — Carro, J. P., Wallach, Kupferman, Asch and Kassal, JJ.

Cases cited

People v. Hicks 88 AD2d 519 N.Y. App. Div. 1982-05-11 p. 546