People v. Washington

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed, and the case remitted to that court for the exercise of its discretion.

At the conclusion of the trial on charges of burglary in the second degree — after the closing of arguments but before the court’s charge to the jury — defendant for the first time expressed a desire to testify, "to offer the jurors some other hypothesis of the evidence that’s been presented”. Out of the presence of the jury, defense counsel explained that he and the defendant had discussed the possibility of defendant testifying and had…