Opinion
12-03-2015
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Pedro TAVARES, Defendant–Appellant.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (William B. Carney of counsel), for appellant. Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Lori Ann Farrington of counsel), for respondent.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (William B. Carney of counsel), for appellant.
Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Lori Ann Farrington of counsel), for respondent.
Opinion
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Edgar Walker, J.), rendered March 15, 2011, as amended June 2, 2011, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of two counts each of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first and second degrees, and sentencing him to concurrent terms of 12 years, unanimously affirmed.
The evidence provided reasonable assurances of the identity and unchanged condition of the illegal substances recovered (see People v. Julian, 41 N.Y.2d 340, 343, 392 N.Y.S.2d 610, 360 N.E.2d 1310 [1977] ), including proof of police control over the drugs (see People v. Cortijo, 251 A.D.2d 256, 675 N.Y.S.2d 50 [1st Dept.1998], lv. denied 92 N.Y.2d 948, 681 N.Y.S.2d 479, 704 N.E.2d 232 [1998] ). The discrepancy regarding the color of the heroin raised factual issues that were properly resolved by the jury (see People v. Ciriaco, 11 A.D.3d 324, 782 N.Y.S.2d 911 [1st Dept.2004], lv. denied 4 N.Y.3d 742, 790 N.Y.S.2d 655, 824 N.E.2d 56 [2004]; People v. Epps, 8 A.D.3d 85, 777 N.Y.S.2d 909 [1st Dept.2004], lv. denied 3 N.Y.3d 673, 784 N.Y.S.2d 12, 817 N.E.2d 830 [2004] ). The jury could have reasonably rejected the inference that the drugs tested by chemists and produced in court were not the same items that were recovered by the police in this case; the jury could have instead concluded that the color discrepancy was the product of mistake, including faulty observation, recollection or recording.
TOM, J.P., SWEENY, ANDRIAS, GISCHE, JJ., concur.