People v. McDermott

Judgment *914unanimously affirmed. Memorandum: There is no merit to defendant’s contention that County Court abused its discretion by discharging a juror and replacing him with an alternate juror. The court was informed on Tuesday, January 19, 1993 that the mother-in-law of juror No. 3 had died and that he therefore would not be available until Friday of that week. The court contacted the absent juror and conducted a sufficient inquiry concerning the circumstance of the absence and his likely return date (cf., People v Washington, 75 NY2d 740, revg on dissenting mem of Carro, J., 151 AD2d 384,…