People v Rivera

People v Rivera 2012 NY Slip Op 01555 Decided on March 1, 2012 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

Decided on March 1, 2012
Gonzalez, P.J., Sweeny, Moskowitz, Renwick, Richter, JJ.
6973 865/09

[*1]The People of the State of New York, Respondent,

v

Francis Rivera, Defendant-Appellant.




Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Paul Wiener
of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Matthew T.
Murphy of counsel), for respondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Rena K. Uviller, J.), rendered July 1, 2009, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him to a term of 6 months, unanimously affirmed.

By pleading guilty, defendant waived his objection to the grand jury instructions (see People v Garcia, 216 AD2d 36 [1995]). In any event, there was no impairment of the integrity of the grand jury proceedings (compare People v Pelchat, 62 NY2d 97 [1984]). The prosecutor properly instructed the grand jury on the essential elements of the crime of possession of a cane sword, which is a per se weapon, by reading the language of the statute (see People v Berrier, 223 AD2d 456 [1996], lv denied 88 NY2d 876 [1996]). Under the circumstances, there was no need for any further instructions concerning the element of mental culpability (see id.; compare People v Wood, 58 AD3d 242 [2008], lv denied 12 NY3d 823 [2009]). Accordingly, the prosecutor furnished the grand jury "with enough information to enable it intelligently to decide whether a crime has been committed" (People v Calbud, 49 NY2d 389, 394 [1980]).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.

ENTERED: MARCH 1, 2012

CLERK