In People v. Mahboubian, 74 N.Y.2d 17, 184 (1989), the Court of Appeals articulated the standard for severance when there is a claim of antagonistic defenses: "severance is compelled where the core of each defense is in irreconcilable conflict with the other and where there is a significant danger, as both defenses are portrayed to the trial court, that the conflict alone would lead the jury to infer defendant's guilt". This standard arose in a prosecution where one defendant - Sakhai - conceded his participation in a criminal act, the theft of his codefendant's (Mahboubian) art collection, claiming that he had done so at the behest of Mahboubian as a publicity stunt, but denied his participation in an insurance fraud. On the other hand, Mahboubian denied participation in any crimes. Although neither defendant testified at trial, the Court concluded that these defenses were "not only antagonistic but also mutually exclusive and irreconcilable" and held the trial court's pretrial denial of severance to be error.