People v. Baldomero

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Gary, J.), rendered March 11, 2005, convicting him of criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and a new trial is ordered.

In order to justify the closure of a courtroom during the *483testimony of an undercover police officer, the People “must first assert that a substantial probability of prejudice to a compelling interest will result from an open proceeding,” and then establish “a nexus between the…