Opinion
2012-04-24
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Michael DINARDO, Defendant–Appellant.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Adrienne Hale of counsel), for appellant. Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Jenetha G. Philbert of counsel), for respondent.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Adrienne Hale of counsel), for appellant. Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Jenetha G. Philbert of counsel), for respondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Ralph A. Fabrizio, J.), rendered July 19, 2010, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, and sentencing him to a term of 90 days, unanimously affirmed.
The accusatory instrument was not jurisdictionally defective. The misdemeanor complaint, which in this case was required to meet the standards that apply to an information, sufficiently alleged constructive possession of drugs. Giving the complaint “a fair and not overly restrictive or technical reading” ( People v. Casey, 95 N.Y.2d 354, 360, 717 N.Y.S.2d 88, 740 N.E.2d 233 [2000] ), we find “as a matter of common sense and reasonable pleading” ( People v. Davis, 13 N.Y.3d 17, 32, 884 N.Y.S.2d 665, 912 N.E.2d 1044 [2009] ) that it alleged that defendant was in a hotel room where the arresting officer found drugs on a night table and in a dresser drawer. This supports an inference that that defendant was in constructive possession of the drugs ( see People v. Reisman, 29 N.Y.2d 278, 285–286, 327 N.Y.S.2d 342, 277 N.E.2d 396 [1971], cert. denied 405 U.S. 1041, 92 S.Ct. 1315, 31 L.Ed.2d 582 [1972]; People v. Hyde, 302 A.D.2d 101, 105, 754 N.Y.S.2d 11 [2003], lv. denied 99 N.Y.2d 655, 760 N.Y.S.2d 119, 790 N.E.2d 293 [2003] ), even without any allegation concerning defendant's relationship to the hotel room.