Opinion
1558
June 26, 2003.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (William Wetzel, J.), rendered June 3, 2002, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 2½ to 7 years, unanimously reversed, on the law, the conviction vacated and the indictment dismissed.
Mary C. Farrington, for respondent.
Carl S. Kaplan, for defendant-appellant.
Before: Andrias, J.P., Sullivan, Ellerin, Williams, Lerner, JJ.
As the People commendably concede, when defendant, who was not impersonating anyone, signed his own actual name to a screenplay written by someone else, the screenplay at issue was not a forgery under the Penal Law (see People v. Levitan, 49 N.Y.2d 87, 90). Since the only crime of which defendant stands convicted is criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, he is entitled to vacatur of his conviction and dismissal of the indictment.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.