People v. Santiago

*253On July 20, 1984, defendant and an accomplice entered a ground-floor apartment and stole a clock radio, two fur coats and a box of jewelry. Police officers saw the burglars leave the apartment with the goods and apprehended them as they fled from the scene. At Central Booking, defendant admitted that he had illegally entered the apartment.

No transcript is available of the trial court’s preliminary instructions to the jury or of the People’s opening remarks. While defendant does not claim that any impropriety occurred during the course of these preliminary proceedings, he nevertheless contends…