People v Daniels

2009 NY Slip Op 01493 [59 AD3d 730]

February 24, 2009

Appellate Division, Second Department

As corrected through Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v William Daniels, Appellant.

—[*1]Lynn W. L. Fahey, New York, N.Y. (John Gemmill of counsel), for appellant.

Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M. Castellano, JohnnetteTraill, and Ushir Pandit of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County(Blumenfeld, J.), rendered May 18, 2006, convicting him of manslaughter in the first degree andcriminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposingsentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The trial court did not err in discharging a sworn juror over the defendant's objection. Therecord demonstrates that the court properly engaged in a thorough and searching inquiry of thejuror (see People v Dukes, 8 NY3d952 [2007]) and correctly discharged her as being "grossly unqualified" (CPL 270.35 [1])based upon the juror's statement that financial concerns would prevent her from giving herundivided attention to the case (seePeople v Thomas, 13 AD3d 259 [2004]; People v Cook, 275 AD2d 1020[2000]; People v Huntley, 237 AD2d 533 [1997]; People v Bolden, 197 AD2d528 [1993]). Florio, J.P., Covello, Balkin and Leventhal, JJ., concur.