Opinion
October 20, 1966
Appeal from the Monroe County Court.
Present — Williams, P.J., Bastow, Goldman, Henry and Del Vecchio, JJ.
Judgment unanimously reversed on the law and facts and a new trial granted. Memorandum: Defendant Cole and two others had been jointly indicted. A preliminary hearing was held to determine the voluntariness of statements made by Cole's codefendants. No statement had been made by Cole. It appeared on the hearing that the confessions of the codefendants seriously implicated Cole in the crimes charged and that the references to him could not be effectively redacted to eliminate resulting prejudice. Cole's motion for a severance, on the ground that it would be highly prejudicial for him to stand trial together with the codefendants, was denied. This was an abuse of discretion. (See People v. Robinson, 16 A.D.2d 184; People v. Feolo, 282 N.Y. 276.)