People v. Garcia

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon a jury verdict of two counts each of murder in the first degree (Penal Law § 125.27 [1] [a] [viii]; [b]) and kidnap*1605ping in the second degree (§ 135.20). Contrary to the contention of defendant, County Court did not abuse its discretion in denying his motion for a mistrial based on a violation of the court’s Ventimiglia ruling (see generally People v Ortiz, 54 NY2d 288, 292 [1981]). Any prejudice resulting from the Ventimiglia violation was alleviated by the court’s curative instruction (see People v Allen, 78 AD3d 1521, 1521…