People v. Johnson

283 A.D.2d 331, 724 N.Y.S.2d 857, 2001 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5414

Opinion

—Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Nicholas lacovetta, J.), rendered September 10, 1998, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 5 to 10 years, unanimously affirmed.

The court’s Sandoval ruling balanced the appropriate factors and was a proper exercise of discretion (see, People v Walker, 83 NY2d 455, 458-459). Defendant’s prior rape conviction was probative of his willingness to place his individual self-interest ahead of the interest of society (see, People v Bennette, 56 NY2d 142, 147), and the court prevented undue prejudice by precluding reference to the underlying facts. The conviction was not excessively remote given defendant’s incarceration during a substantial portion of the intervening years (see, People v Joyner, 270 AD2d 100, lv denied 94 NY2d 949). Concur — Rosenberger, J. P., Andrias, Rubin, Buckley and Marlow, JJ.