Citation Numbers: 210 A.D.2d 140, 620 N.Y.S.2d 350, 1994 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 13000
Filed Date: 12/20/1994
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/31/2024
—Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Robert Cohen, J.), rendered June 15, 1989, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree, and sentencing him to a term of &V¡ to 25 years, unanimously affirmed.
The trial court properly exercised discretion in refusing to discharge a juror who became ill with symptoms of methadone withdrawal during jury deliberations after the alternate jurors had already been dismissed, the court having determined, after conducting three thorough inquiries of the juror and court and hospital personnel, in the presence and with the participation of defendant and the attorneys, that the juror would be able to render a fair and impartial verdict, and
Nor did the juror’s admitted failure to admit Ms drug problem during voir dire and to the court officers after he became ill constitute "misconduct of a substantial nature” (CPL 270.85) likely to affect his deliberations and therefore requiring Ms discharge from the jury (see, People v Rodriguez, 71 NY2d, supra, at 219-220, explaining People v Buford, supra; cf., People v Fox, 172 AD2d 218, lv denied 78 NY2d 966). Concur—Sullivan, J. P., Rubin, Nardelli and Tom, JJ.