People v. Cerda (Alexis)

Opinion

The People of the State of New York, Respondent,

against

Alexis Michel Saleta Cerda, Defendant-Appellant.

Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Frances Y. Wang, J.), rendered July 12, 2017, convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of disorderly conduct, and imposing sentence.

Per Curiam.

Judgment of conviction (Frances Y. Wang, J.), rendered July 12, 2017, affirmed.

The accusatory instrument, which in this case was required to meet the standards that apply to a misdemeanor complaint (see People v Dumay, 23 NY3d 518, 522 [2014]), was jurisdictionally valid, since it described facts of an evidentiary nature establishing reasonable cause to believe that defendant was guilty of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree (see Penal Law § 170.20). At the pleading stage, defendant's knowledge that the temporary license plate on his automobile was forged can be inferred from his conflicting explanations and the suspicious circumstances under which he came into possession of the plate (see People v Johnson, 65 NY2d 556, 562 [1985]; People v Kende, 58 Misc 3d 133[A], 2017 NY Slip Op 51787[U][App Term, 1st Dept 2017], lv denied 30 NY3d 1116 [2018]).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.

I concur I concur I concur
Decision Date: October 12, 2018