PEOPLE v. TAYLOR

Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and a new trial is ordered. The facts have been considered and are determined to have been established.

We find that the trial court committed reversible error by submitting to the jury, over the defense counsel's objection, a verdict sheet containing not only the crimes charged and the possible verdicts thereon (see, CPL 310.20), but also certain elements of those charges (see, People v Nimmons, 72 N.Y.2d 830; People v Owens, 69 N.Y.2d 585; People v Gillispie, 144 A.D.2d 482). We further find that the trial court improvidently exercised its discretion in discharging two members of the jury without first conducting "a reasonably thorough inquiry and recitation on the record of the facts and reasons for invoking the statutory authorization of discharging and replacing [the jurors] based on continued unavailability" (People v Page, 72 N.Y.2d 69, 73; People v Polhill, 140 A.D.2d 462; People v Hewlett, 133 A.D.2d 417). Therefore, the defendant's conviction must be reversed and a new trial ordered.

We have examined the defendant's remaining contentions and find them to be without merit. Brown, J.P., and Eiber, J., concur.

Rosenblatt, J., concurs in the result only, with the following memorandum, in which Kooper, J., concurs.

I concur in the result as to the retroactive application of People v Nimmons ( 72 N.Y.2d 830) on constraint of earlier cases decided by this court (see, e.g., People v Valle, 143 A.D.2d 160; People v Testaverde, 143 A.D.2d 208).