Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Mullen, J.), rendered April 23, 2002, convicting him of assault in the second degree and criminal mischief in the fourth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing, of that branch of the defendant’s omnibus motion which was to suppress his statements to law enforcement authorities.
Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and a new trial is ordered.
The Supreme Court correctly denied the defendant’s motion to suppress his statements as the statements were not the product of police conduct “reasonably . . . anticipated to evoke a statement from the defendant” (People v Rivers, 56 NY2d 476, 480 [1982]; see People v Troisi, 224 AD2d 559 [1996]; People v Pryor, 194 AD2d 749, 749-750 [1993]).
However, the judgment must nevertheless be reversed, and a new trial ordered. After a witness testified that the defendant had spent time in jail, the Supreme Court did not give a sufficient curative instruction, as it was required to do in order to avoid prejudice to the defendant (see People v Cruz, 72 AD2d 748, 748-749 [1979]). The Supreme Court also refused the
The defendant’s remaining contentions are without merit. Goldstein, J.P., Mastro, Spolzino and Lunn, JJ., concur.