People v. Velasquez

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

*907Defendant was convicted, after a jury trial, of three counts of murder in the second degree. There was a single witness to the killings and the evidence against defendant came principally from her. Her status as an accomplice was submitted to the jury as a question of fact.

We agree with the Appellate Division that the court’s instruction on the subject was error and requires a new trial. The court charged the jury that an "accomplice means a witness in a criminal action who, according to the evidence adduced…