People v. Townsend

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

Defendant and his codefendant, Bernard Graves, were convicted after a jury trial of felony murder for shooting a limousine driver during a robbery. Much of the case against defendant consisted of statements he and Graves made admitting that they had participated in the robbery and had shot the driver. The defense claimed that the statements were made involuntarily and attacked the credibility of the witnesses who claimed to have heard them.

At the beginning of trial, the court delivered preliminary…