People v. Ortiz

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Eng, J.), rendered January 15, 2002, convicting him of robbery in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

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

The People requested that the trial court exclude the defendant’s brother from the courtroom on the ground that he might be a potential witness at trial. However, the defense counsel advised the trial court that he also represented the defendant’s brother on a pending weapons misdemeanor case, and…