Opinion
February 26, 2001.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Frank Torres, J.), rendered October 16, 1995, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of two counts of burglary in the first degree, and sentencing him to concurrent terms of 2 to 6 years, unanimously affirmed.
Stuart P. Levy, for respondent.
Paul Wiener, for defendant-appellant.
Before: Sullivan, P.J., Tom, Lerner, Buckley, Friedman, JJ.
Where the fact that defendant spoke Cantonese was undisputedly relevant to the issue of identity, the court did not violate any of defendant's constitutional rights when it informed the jury, at the People's request, that defendant was using a Cantonese interpreter at trial (see,People v. Gomez, 84 Ill. App.3d 785, 788-790, 406 N.E.2d 886, 889-890;compare, Commonwealth v. Garcia, 661 A.2d 1388, 1395 n. 13 (Pa Super),lv denied 543 Pa 709, 672 A.2d 304). In any event, the court's statement to the jury could not have caused any prejudice to defendant because defense counsel had previously made the jury aware that defendant was using a Cantonese interpreter.
The court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant's request, made during trial, for an in-court lineup composed of courtroom spectators (see, People v. Hardy, 186 A.D.2d 447, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 789;People v. Benjamin, 155 A.D.2d 375, lv denied 75 N.Y.2d 867; see also,People v. Pearce, 48 N.Y.2d 897), since the witness had an ample opportunity to view defendant during the incident and had already made a reliable out-of-court identification (see, People v. Davis, 256 A.D.2d 49,lv denied 93 N.Y.2d 872).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.