Opinion
7523 Ind. 3035/14
10-30-2018
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jerome BRITH, Defendant–Appellant.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Jonathan Garelick of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Christopher P. Marinelli of counsel), for respondent.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Jonathan Garelick of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Christopher P. Marinelli of counsel), for respondent.
Acosta, P.J., Friedman, Kapnick, Webber, Moulton, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Abraham L. Clott, J.), rendered June 19, 2015, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony drug offender previously convicted of a violent felony, to consecutive terms of 10 years and 1 year, respectively, unanimously reversed, on the law, and the matter remanded for a new trial.
The court improvidently exercised its discretion in denying defendant's challenge for cause to a prospective juror who repeatedly expressed a predisposition to credit police testimony, and a belief that innocent defendants would testify on their own behalf, since the totality of his responses established that he would be unable to put aside his inclinations and be fair and impartial (see People v. Arnold, 96 N.Y.2d 358, 362, 729 N.Y.S.2d 51, 753 N.E.2d 846 [2001] ). At no point did the panelist give an unequivocal assurance that he would put aside his beliefs and concerns and render an impartial verdict (see People v. Johnson, 94 N.Y.2d 600, 612, 709 N.Y.S.2d 134, 730 N.E.2d 932 [2000] ).
In light of the foregoing, we do not reach defendant's remaining claim.