People v. Rivas

—Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Lawrence Tonetti, J.), rendered November 20, 2000, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of attempted murder in the second degree, robbery in the first degree and assault in the first degree, and sentencing him to concurrent terms of 15 years, unanimously reversed, on the law, and the matter remanded for new trial.

Although we reject the other arguments raised by defendant (see People v Cordero, 306 AD2d 9 [2003] [decided herewith]), we hold that reversal and retrial of defendant Rivas are necessitated by the court’s removal of him from the courtroom…