People v. Travis

— Judgment unanimously reversed on the law and new trial granted. Memorandum: CPL 300.10 (2) provides that "[u]pon request of a defendant who did not testify in his own behalf, but not otherwise, the court must state that the fact that he did not testify is not a factor from which any inference unfavorable to the defendant may be drawn.” (Emphasis added.) The Court of Appeals has said that the statute does not establish an absolute prohibition against the court exercising its discretion to submit the "no inference” *869charge in the absence of a request by the defendant, but that this discretion…