People v. Tolentino

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bruce Allen, J.), rendered May 12, 1993, convicting defendant, after jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 41/2 to 9 years imprisonment, affirmed.

Defendant claims that the courtroom was improperly closed for the testimony of the undercover officer, without even a hearing on the prosecution’s motion. The prosecutor had represented to the court that the undercover was still operating in the vicinity of this particular transaction, and that the prospective…