People v. Alicea

Edward Alicea and his cousin, Fernando Var*603gas, were tried jointly and convicted of the crimes of manslaughter first degree (Penal Law, § 125.20) and possession of a weapon (Penal Law, § 265.05). The Appellate Division, by divided vote, affirmed Alicea’s convictions, stating that while they neither condoned nor excused the conduct of the Assistant District Attorney, and shared "the feeling of outrage that is implicit in the dissent”, they did "not believe that the totality of incidents” occurring during the trial required a reversal. The dissenter, on the contrary, voted to reverse and grant a…