Opinion
4149
September 30, 2004.
Before: Nardelli, J.P., Andrias, Ellerin, Gonzalez and Catterson, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Arlene R. Silverman, J.), rendered June 8, 2000, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 4½ to 9 years, unanimously affirmed.
When binoculars used by the police to observe a drug transaction are in evidence, it is within the court's discretion to permit the jurors to look through the binoculars in order to perceive their degree of magnification ( People v. Davis, 253 AD2d 687 , lv denied 92 NY2d 1030; People v. Lennon, 223 AD2d 403, lv denied 87 NY2d 1021 ; People v. Rivera, 215 AD2d 102, lv denied 86 NY2d 801; see also People v. Mathison, 287 AD2d 384, 385, lv denied 97 NY2d 706). In this case, the court properly exercised its discretion in granting a request from the deliberating jury to leave the windowless jury room and look out the hallway window using the binoculars. The court provided thorough supervision and cautionary instructions.