People v. Santana

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Robert Straus, J.), rendered July 9, 1993, which convicted defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree and sentenced him to a prison term of 2½ to 5 years, unanimously affirmed.

At the beginning of voir dire, in the defendant’s presence, the court engaged in a colloquy with the defense clearly delineating the defendant’s right to be present at a bench conference with a prospective juror regarding any reasons the juror did not wish to sit on the case other than “medical reasons or physical…