People v. Velez

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Caesar Cirigliano, J.), rendered April 7, 2006, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of three years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The People made a sufficiently particularized showing of an overriding interest justifying the court’s exclusion of the general public from the courtroom during the undercover officers’ testimony in order to protect their safety and effectiveness. The officers had numerous other cases pending in the courthouse, continued to work…