Opinion
June 18, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Alvin Schlesinger, J.).
This was an undercover "buy and bust" case. At trial, prior to the testimony of an undercover police officer, the People moved to close the courtroom during his testimony. The court conducted a hearing pursuant to People v. Hinton ( 31 N.Y.2d 71, cert denied 410 U.S. 911) during which the undercover officer disclosed that he had about 80 open undercover cases from the area where the sale occurred and that he was still working in an undercover capacity there. While he testified that he feared in general for his safety, he stated that such fears were not necessarily related to this particular defendant.
As a result, the courtroom was closed and the mother of the defendant's fiance was excluded from the courtroom during his testimony.
Absent any showing by the People that her exclusion was necessary to protect the witness, the closure of the courtroom was impermissibly broad. Moreover, there were no findings by the trial court adequate to support the closure as to this individual ( People v. Kin Kan, 78 N.Y.2d 54, 58; see also, People v. Green, 215 A.D.2d 309).
Concur — Ellerin, J.P., Wallach, Kupferman, Williams and Mazzarelli, JJ.