People v. Torres

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Carroll, J.), rendered February 14, 2001, convicting him of burglary in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

Contrary to the defendant’s contention, the trial court providently exercised its discretion in making its Sandoval ruling ( see People v Sandoval, 34 NY2d 371 , 374-375), as it struck a proper balance between the probative worth of the evidence and its possible prejudice to the defendant (see People v Forino, 287 AD2d 519 , 520; People v Sobers, 272 AD2d 418 , 419; People v Dwyer, 243 AD2d 645 ).

Additionally, the trial court providently exercised its discretion in denying the defendant’s motion for a mistrial based on the complainant’s unsolicited testimony during cross-examination that the defendant “robbed * * * from the other floors” in the building (see People v Ortiz, 54 NY2d 288 , 292; People v Caban, 224 AD2d 705 ). Any prejudice to the defendant that might have resulted from the complainant’s testimony was alleviated as the court directed the jury to disregard the testimony (see People v Santiago, 52 NY2d 865 ; People v Young, 48 NY2d 995 ). Florio, J.P., Feuerstein, Friedmann and Rivera, JJ., concur.