People v. Alomar

The Trial Judge was a witness to the proceedings upon which the adjudication of defendant’s Batson claim was premised. As such, he ought not to have presided over the hearing to reconstruct those proceedings (see, People v Armlin, 37 NY2d 167, 173; People v McDaniel, 168 AD2d 926, 928; People v Seminara, 58 AD2d 841, 843; see also, 22 NYCRR 100.3 [E] [1] [“(a) judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” including where “(a) * * * (ii) the judge has personal knowl*221edge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the…