The People of the State of New York, Respondent v. Elias Carmona, Appellant

Summary

The Court of Appeals affirmed Elias Carmona's second‑degree murder conviction, holding that the statutory clergy‑penitent privilege was not waived despite his later disclosures to police, and that the admission of the ministers' testimony was harmless error. The majority emphasized that a waiver cannot be inferred from statements that were themselves suppressed as violations of the right to counsel. A concurring opinion disagreed, asserting that no priest‑penitent privilege was ever properly invoked and that the privilege was nullified by the defendant's voluntary disclosures.