People v. Burke

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

*861In this arson prosecution, the question whether the People’s case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence turned on the nature of the testimony of the People’s witness Robert Bennett. Though unable at trial to recall any prior conversations with the defendant, Bennett did testify that any statements he made during the Grand Jury presentation were true. The prosecutor then read into evidence Bennett’s Grand Jury testimony, in which he said that, in a conversation about the fire, he asked defendant whether…