| People v Perez |
| 2012 NY Slip Op 04220 [95 AD3d 780] |
| May 31, 2012 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v JosePerez, Appellant. |
—[*1] Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Caleb Kruckenberg of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Michael Sonberg, J.), rendered June 14, 2010,as amended June 29, 2010, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of auto stripping in the seconddegree and possession of burglar's tools in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a secondfelony offender, to an aggregate term of 2 to 4 years, unanimously affirmed.
Defense counsel affirmatively waived the absence of an interpreter during part of the voirdire proceedings (see People v Keen, 94 NY2d 533, 538 [2000]). As an alternate holding,we find defendant's argument that he was constructively absent due to the lack of an interpreter tobe without merit. Although defendant was generally assisted by an interpreter during pretrialproceedings and trial, the record does not indicate that he lacked a sufficient understanding of theEnglish language to be able to understand the questioning of venire persons, or that a languagebarrier prevented him from being able to communicate with his counsel (see People v Santos, 46 AD3d365, 366 [2007], lv denied 10 NY3d 844 [2008]). Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P.,Catterson, DeGrasse, Richter and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.