Opinion
Argued May 19, 2000.
July 26, 2000.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Barros, J.), rendered May 5, 1998, convicting him of robbery in the first degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing, of that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to suppress identification evidence.
M. Sue Wycoff, New York, N.Y. (Amy K. Schiava and Kevin Casey of counsel), for appellant.
Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Michael Gore of counsel), for respondent.
Before: DANIEL W. JOY, J.P., WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, GLORIA GOLDSTEIN, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
Under the totality of the circumstances, the lineup was not so unduly suggestive of the defendant's identity as to create a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification (see, People v. Chipp, 75 N.Y.2d 327, cert denied 498 U.S. 833). As all of the participants in the lineup wore baseball hats, removed their coats, and were seated, any discrepancies between the defendant and the other participants in the lineup were minimized.
We reject the defendant's contention that evidence of prior uncharged crimes was improperly admitted. This evidence was necessary to complete the witness's narrative and was probative of identification and not of propensity (see, People v. Molineux, 168 N.Y. 264). We note that the court gave adequate curative instructions to the jury which limited the use of this evidence (see, People v. Allweiss, 48 N.Y.2d 40; People v. Padilla, 245 A.D.2d 310).
The defendant's remaining contentions do not require reversal.