Opinion
May 17, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Nicholas Figueroa, J.).
Defendant's contention that denial of his motion for a severance warrants reversal is without merit. The defenses set forth at trial by defendant and his co-defendant were not conflicting and could each have been independently adopted by the jury (People v. Mahboubian, 74 N.Y.2d 174, 184-185). Neither defendant relied on proof of the culpability of the other to convince the jury of his own innocence (People v. Cardwell, 78 N.Y.2d 996, 998).
It must be presumed that the jury followed the court's repeated instructions and considered the issue of guilt of each defendant separately (People v. Davis, 58 N.Y.2d 1102, 1104).
Concur — Rosenberger, J.P., Ellerin, Kupferman, Ross and Rubin, JJ.