In People v. Ventimiglia, 52 NY2d 350, 362, 420 N.E.2d 59, 438 N.Y.S.2d 261 [1981], the court held that the evidence should be presented to the court either as "an offer of proof by counsel or preferably by presenting the live testimony of the witness" (Ventimiglia at 362]). The Ventimiglia court did not mandate a hearing. Under Ventimiglia, the People are required to notify the court and defendant of their intent to introduce the evidence as part of the case-in-chief and identify the basis upon which they consider it admissible (Id. at 362). The court then must assess how the evidence came into the case, its relevance, probative value against prejudicing the defendant. After considering the evidence, the court can either admit or exclude it in total, or admit it without the prejudicial part if that can be done without distorting its meaning (see People v. Holmes, 260 AD2d 942, 943, 690 N.Y.S.2d 292 [1999]).