People v. West

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and the matter remitted for a new trial for the reasons stated in the dissenting opinion (92 AD2d 620, 622) of Presiding Justice A. Franklin Mahoney at the Appellate Division (see, also, People v Ventimiglia, 52 NY2d 350, 361-362). We also note our agreement with the majority’s conclusion that the codefendant, who had pleaded guilty to a lesser offense prior to testifying against the defendant at the trial, was an accomplice as a matter of law. Thus the trial court erred in refusing to charge the jury to…