Summary
In People v Espino (284 AD2d 254 [1st Dept 2001]), the defendant, accompanied by a second individual, approached an undercover officer and informed the officer of the price of the drugs.
Summary of this case from People v. HatchettOpinion
June 26, 2001.
Nicole Beder, for respondent.
Steven F. Pugliese, for defendant-appellant.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Joan Sudolnik, J.), rendered April 18, 2000, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 4 1/2 to 9 years, unanimously affirmed.
Before: Sullivan, P.J., Ellerin, Wallach, Rubin, Buckley, JJ.
The verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence. Defendant's accessorial liability was established by evidence that defendant accompanied his companion in approaching the undercover officer, remained in close proximity, informed the undercover officer of the total price of the drugs, and stayed with the officer while defendant's companion went to retrieve the drugs. The jury could have reasonably concluded from the circumstances that when defendant announced the total price he was acting as one of the sellers and not as a helpful bystander (see, People v. Bello, 92 N.Y.2d 523).
The court properly exercised its discretion in admitting evidence of an apparent uncharged sale to a third person, since this evidence was relevant to issues of intent and acting in concert (see, People v. Rivera, 221 A.D.2d 213, 214).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.