People v. Smith

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Orgera, J.), rendered June 16, 1992, convicting him of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

*336Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and a new trial is ordered.

The defendant contends that he was denied his right to a public trial (see, US Const 6th Amend; Civil Rights Law § 12; Judiciary Law § 4) when the trial court closed the courtroom to the public, including the…