Opinion
5810.
April 7, 2005.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (David Stadtmauer, J.), rendered August 5, 2002, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of four years, unanimously affirmed.
John J. Janiec, New York, for appellant.
Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Susan E. Baumgartner of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Tom, J.P., Andrias, Sullivan, Nardelli and Williams, JJ.
The introduction of a nontestifying codefendant's plea allocution violated Crawford v. Washington ( 541 US 36). This evidence was clearly received for its truth with regard to the issue of whether or not a robbery occurred, and the record fails to support the People's arguments in favor of its admissibility. However, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt ( see e.g., People v. Hopkins, 13 AD3d 303). Without reference to the inadmissible plea allocution, there was overwhelming evidence compelling the conclusion that the incident in question was a robbery, and not an altercation as claimed by defendant.