Opinion
February 11, 1999
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Franklin Weissberg, J.).
Since defendant declined to make any comment on the People's race-neutral explanations for the peremptory challenges at issue, defendant's current claim that the court's Batson ruling was erroneous is unpreserved (People v. Allen, 86 N.Y.2d 101, 111), and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. Were we to review this claim, we would conclude that the court properly found the People's reasons to be nonpretextual (see, People v. Payne, 88 N.Y.2d 172, 184).
Concur — Williams, J. P., Wallach, Andrias and Saxe, JJ.