PEOPLE v. COLEMAN (1999)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Herbert Altman, J.), rendered February 20, 1997, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of robbery in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 31/212 to 7 years, unanimously affirmed.

 Defendant's challenge to the court's sua sponte pre-voir dire excusal of two jurors, without input from counsel, is a claim requiring preservation (People v. Martinez, 239 A.D.2d 205, 658 N.Y.S.2d 11, lv. denied 90 N.Y.2d 895, 662 N.Y.S.2d 438, 685 N.E.2d 219), and we decline to review this unpreserved claim in the interest of justice.   Were we to review this claim, we would find that the court properly exercised its discretion, after sufficient inquiry, in excusing one prospective juror on the basis of a scheduling conflict (see, People v. Velasco, 77 N.Y.2d 469, 473, 568 N.Y.S.2d 721, 570 N.E.2d 1070), and the other on the basis of the prospective juror's lack of impartiality (see, People v. Decker, 157 N.Y. 186, 190-193, 51 N.E. 1018).

 The court properly exercised its discretion in limiting defendant's voir dire of prospective jurors because the precluded inquiries were repetitious and largely concerned the prospective jurors' knowledge of and attitudes toward principles of law (see, People v. Swift, 260 A.D.2d 157, 687 N.Y.S.2d 363).

MEMORANDUM DECISION.