Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Albany County (Keegan, J.), rendered February 8, 1990, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of burglary in the second degree (eight counts), petit larceny (seven counts) and criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree.
Defendant appeals the judgment of conviction stemming from his participation in several burglaries in the City of Albany during December 1988 and January 1989. The relevant facts, as adduced at trial, reveal that a burglary took place in late January 1989 at Donna La Vance’s apartment during which, inter alia, her school ring was stolen. That same day defendant apparently sold the ring and other items to Wendell Williams, owner of Ferris Stamp and Coin Company in Albany. Williams had written a secondhand dealer’s slip describing the items and signed by the seller. As part of an investigation into a series of recent burglaries, Albany Police Detective George McNally reviewed the secondhand dealer’s slip and obtained a description of defendant from Williams. McNally was subsequently informed that defendant would be at a certain shop in the City of Troy, Rensselaer County, where, on February 8, 1989, defendant was arrested for possession of stolen property relating to the sale of La Vance’s ring. Defendant was then brought back to an Albany police station at approximately 1:00 p.m. and placed in a cell after a brief period of questioning.
At approximately 8:00 p.m., defendant agreed to speak with the police and told Detective Kenneth Kennedy that he had committed burglaries to support a heavy cocaine habit. Defendant was then asked what burglaries he had committed and, aided by previously filed police reports, defendant eventually admitted to eight burglaries at various Albany addresses.
Defendant was subsequently indicted on nine counts of
We affirm. Initially, we reject defendant’s argument that County Court erred in denying his severance motion. Under these circumstances, a court may grant a motion for severance when justice requires and for good cause shown (see, CPL 200.20 [3]). In deciding, the court should weigh "the public interest in avoiding duplicative, lengthy and expensive trials against the defendant’s interest in being protected from an unfair advantage in favor of the People” (People v Mercer,
We likewise reject defendant’s argument that County Court erroneously denied defendant’s attempts to suppress his confessions on the ground that the People failed to show such statements were voluntary beyond a reasonable doubt. Whether a statement has been coerced so as to be involuntary depends on the totality of the circumstances (see, People v Anderson,
Nor did County Court err in failing to charge the jury regarding the voluntariness of defendant’s statements (see, CPL 710.70 [3]). In failing to object to County Court’s charge, defendant waived his right to raise this issue on appeal (see, People v Goddard,
We have examined defendant’s remaining arguments, including alleged trial errors, ineffective assistance of counsel and excessiveness of his sentence, and summarily find them all of insufficient merit to warrant reversal of the conviction in this instance.
Mikoll, Yesawich Jr., Mercure and Harvey, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
