Opinion
2014-01-30
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Michael GRAY, Defendant–Appellant.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Nicolas Schumann–Ortega of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Hope Korenstein of counsel), for respondent.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Nicolas Schumann–Ortega of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Hope Korenstein of counsel), for respondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Marcy L. Kahn, J.), rendered September 27, 2011, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal trespass in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony drug offender whose prior felony conviction was a violent felony, to an aggregate term of six years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly exercised its discretion in permitting expert testimony that the packaging and quantity of the drugs recovered from defendant was consistent with possession by a seller and inconsistent with mere personal use. This testimony was precisely within the scope of expert evidence permitted underPeople v. Hicks, 2 N.Y.3d 750, 778 N.Y.S.2d 745, 811 N.E.2d 7 [2004]. There is no merit to defendant's suggestion that Hicks was overruled by People v. Williams, 20 N.Y.3d 579, 585, 964 N.Y.S.2d 483, 987 N.E.2d 260 [2013].
We reject defendant's challenge to the weight of the evidence supporting the unlawful entry element of criminal trespass. The evidence supports the inference that defendant knew he was not licensed or privileged to be in the lobby of a Housing Authority building where he was neither a resident nor an invitee. GONZALEZ, P.J., FRIEDMAN, RENWICK, FREEDMAN, RICHTER, JJ., concur.