Opinion
570853/15
06-05-2020
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Malik MITCHELL, Defendant-Appellant.
Per Curiam.
Judgment of conviction (Herbert J. Adlerberg, J.H.O.), rendered July 28, 2015, affirmed.
Treating the accusatory instrument as an information in evaluating defendant's jurisdictional challenge (see People v. Hatton , 26 NY3d 364 [2015] ), we find that the instrument charged all the elements of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree (see Penal Law § 220.03 ) and set forth sufficient factual allegations to show the basis for the arresting officer's conclusion that the substance at issue was a controlled substance. The instrument recited that police recovered a "small clear plastic bag containing 12 twist[s] of crack/cocaine" from defendant's pocket, and that the officer believed the substance to be crack/cocaine "based upon [his] professional training as a police officer in the identification of drugs", his "prior experience as a police officer in making drug arrests" and an observation of the packaging "which is characteristic of this type of drug" (see People v. Smalls , 26 NY3d 1064 [2015] ; People v. Kalin , 12 NY3d 225, 231-232 [2009] ; People v. Pearson, 78 AD3d 445 [2010], lv denied 16 NY3d 799 [2011] ).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
All concur.