People v. Williams

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Ruth Pickholz, J.), rendered June 25, 2012, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of murder in the second degree, robbery in the first degree (two counts), robbery in the second degree and burglary in the second degree (two counts), and sentencing him to an aggregate term of 18 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The People established an overriding interest that warranted a courtroom closure that was limited to the exclusion of a single spectator during the testimony of a single witness (see Waller v Georgia, 467 US 39 [1984]). Contrary to…