People v. Benway

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of St. Lawrence County (Rogers, J.), rendered June 30, 1992, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of rape in the third degree and sodomy in the third degree.

*885Our principal concern on this appeal is whether County Court erred in denying defendant’s motion for a mistrial that was predicated on the ground he had been denied a fair trial by references during the trial to uncharged crimes he allegedly committed. We begin our analysis by noting that the decision to grant or deny a motion for a mistrial is within the trial court’s discretion and…