Defendant's motion to suppress identification testimony was properly denied. On April 29, 1986, at approximately 9:30 P.M., the complainant, a livery cab driver, was stabbed in the neck during a robbery. Based upon information from bystanders, defendant, who was being held for the police by three men, was handcuffed by police officers who arrived on the scene and taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where the seriously wounded complainant had been taken for treatment. Immediately upon being brought into the room, without handcuffs, the complainant unhesitatingly identified defendant as his assailant.
We find no infirmity in the procedure employed by the officers, who knew of the seriousness of complainant's injuries and believed he might not live. The showup, which took place approximately 20 minutes after the stabbing, was necessary to secure a prompt, reliable identification. (See, People v Castillo, 123 A.D.2d 878; People v Soto, 87 A.D.2d 618.)
We also reject defendant's claim that the trial court's erroneous substitution of the word "perpetrator" for the word "defendant" during its identification charge deprived him of a fair trial. When viewed in the context of the entire charge, these minor slips of the tongue do not warrant reversal. (See, People v Bennett, 144 A.D.2d 564, lv denied 73 N.Y.2d 889; People v Willis, 140 A.D.2d 394, lv denied 72 N.Y.2d 963.)
We have considered defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit.
Concur — Kupferman, J.P., Ross, Kassal and Rubin, JJ.