Opinion
Submitted January 5, 2001.
February 5, 2001.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Wade, J.), rendered August 6, 1996, as amended September 30, 1996 (Schneier, J.), convicting him of robbery in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal impersonation in the first degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
David Epstein, New York, N.Y., for appellant.
Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove, Victor Barall, and Diana Villanueva of counsel), for respondent.
Before: CORNELIUS J. O'BRIEN, J.P., GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, ANITA R. FLORIO, DANIEL F. LUCIANO, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment, as amended, is affirmed.
Contrary to the defendant's contention, the court did not err in denying his Batson challenges (Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79) to four peremptory challenges exercised by the prosecutor. The explanations given by the prosecutor were racially neutral (see, People v. Payne, 88 N.Y.2d 172, 173; People v. Allen, 86 N.Y.2d 101) and the defendant failed to establish that the explanations were pretextual (see, People v. Scott, 267 A.D.2d 259; People v. Walters, 248 A.D.2d 494).
The defendant's remaining contentions are without merit.