Opinion
December 28, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Sampson, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and a new trial is ordered.
Under the circumstances of this case, the Supreme Court erred when it excluded two nondisruptive children from the courtroom, one of whom was apparently the defendant's, only because it was the court's policy to exclude children from the courtroom, thereby denying the defendant his right to a public trial ( see, People v. Miller, 224 A.D.2d 639). His conviction must therefore be reversed, and a new trial ordered.
In light of our determination, we need not reach the defendant's remaining contentions.
Copertino, J. P., Joy, Krausman and Goldstein, JJ., concur.