Opinion
December 5, 1996.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Daniel FitzGerald, J.), rendered November 22, 1993, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of two counts of murder in the second degree and one count each of robbery in the first and second degrees and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, and sentencing him to concurrent terms of 18 years to life, 18 years to life, 7 to 21 years, 4 to 12 years, 4 to 12 years, and 21/3 to 7 years, respectively, unanimously affirmed.
Before: Ellerin, J.P., Wallach, Kupferman, Nardelli and Tom, JJ.
Defendant's mother was properly excluded from the otherwise fully open courtroom during the People's case. This discretionary determination, made on the basis of defendant's mother's status as a prospective witness (see, People v Santana, 180 AD2d 537, lv denied 79 NY2d 1007; People v Smith, 111 AD2d 883), did not implicate defendant's right to a public trial.