Capital Newspapers Division of Hearst Corp. v. Clyne

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The judgment of the Appellate Division should be reversed, without costs, and the case remitted to that court for entry of a judgment declaring that it was error for the trial court not to have conducted a preliminary inquiry before deciding to exclude petitioner’s reporter from the hearing.

In midtrial of a criminal action the trial court granted the defendant’s application for a separate hearing under People v Sandoval (34 NY2d 371) out of the presence of the jury to determine which, if any, of the defendant’s prior criminal acts would be admissible to impeach…