Opinion
July 7, 1997
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Friedmann, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and a new trial is ordered.
The Trial Judge's absence from the courtroom while the complainant's testimony was being read back to the jury, "with or without consent, is improper; it does not comport with the Judge's supervisory role, or with the established expectations and conventions that underlie the Judge's function" ( People v Rawlings, 178 A.D.2d 619; see, People v. Lumpkin, 173 A.D.2d 738; People v. Silver, 240 App. Div. 259). Therefore, we reverse.
In light of the foregoing, it is unnecessary to address the defendant's remaining contention.
Mangano, P. J., Ritter, Sullivan, Altman and McGinity, JJ., concur.