Opinion
Argued March 20, 2001.
April 5, 2001.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Marrus, J.), rendered April 8, 1999, convicting him of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
M. Sue Wycoff, New York, N.Y. (Allen Fallek of counsel), for appellant.
Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove, Michael Gore, Carolyn Vecchio, and Scott Splittgerber of counsel), for respondent.
Before: GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, J.P., WILLIAM D. FRIEDMANN, SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, NANCY E. SMITH, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant, after claiming self defense at trial, was acquitted of assault in the first degree. However, he was convicted of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. The defendant's claim concerning the defense of justification is unpreserved for appellate review. In any event, contrary to the defendant's contention, although justification can be a defense to a prosecution based on assaultive behavior, it cannot be a defense to the crime of criminal possession of a weapon (see, People v. Pons, 68 N.Y.2d 264; People v. Carrion, 136 A.D.2d 649). Therefore, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution (see, People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620), we find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The defendant's sentence was not excessive (see, People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80).