People v. Morales

309 A.D.2d 621, 766 N.Y.S.2d 26, 2003 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 10822

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (John Stackhouse, J.), rendered February 15, 2001, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 4V2 to 9 years, unanimously affirmed.

The verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490 [1987]). There is no basis for disturbing the jury’s determinations concerning credibility and identification. The evidence warrants the conclusion that what the officer observed constituted a drug transaction (cf. People v Jones, 90 NY2d 835 [1997]), particularly since shortly afterwards defendant and another man were found counting money, while in close proximity to a quantity of glassine envelopes bearing the same markings as those recovered from the apprehended buyer. The fact that defendant was acquitted of certain counts does not warrant a different conclusion (see People v Rayam, 94 NY2d 557 [2000]). Concur — Tom, J.P., Saxe, Rosenberger and Marlow, JJ.