People v. Bell

Judgment unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed, in accordance with the following memorandum: The People concede that the trial court erred in admitting the nontestifying codefendant’s confession into evidence during the People’s case-in-chief (see, Cruz v New York, 481 US 186). However, since defendant did not contest his involvement in the underlying drug transaction, we conclude that this error was harmless with regard to his conviction of criminal possession of a controlled substance; there was no reasonable possibility that the admission of codefendant’s statement…