Opinion
36
January 24, 2002
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Edward Davidowitz, J.), rendered December 9, 1999, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 5 to 10 years, unanimously affirmed
YAEL V. LEVY, for Respondent,
SVETLANA M. KORNFEIND, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before: Nardelli, J.P., Tom, Sullivan, Ellerin, Rubin, JJ
The gist of the court's instruction to each of the jurors who asked to speak to the judge and asked for information was simply a reminder that all inquiries on the law and the evidence must be in writing. These reminders were not supplemental instructions, but rather were ministerial directives which did not require defendant's presence (People v. Herrmann, 280 A.D.2d 349; People v. Nova, 198 A.D.2d 193; lv denied 83 N.Y.2d 308; People v. Dixon, 192 A.D.2d 338, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 1013). Similarly, even if we were to accept defendant's argument that the court implicitly instructed these jurors to convey these directives to the rest of the jury, there was no improper "delegation" of judicial authority (see, People v. Bonaparte, 78 N.Y.2d 26)
Defendant's remaining claims require preservation (see, People v. Agramonte, 87 N.Y.2d 765), and we decline to review these unpreserved claims in the interest of justice. Were we to review these claims, we would find no support in the record for defendant's assertions that the jury deliberated without the presence of all of its members and that the confidentiality of jury deliberations was breached
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT