People v Jose Montanez

People v Montanez 2004 NY Slip Op 07921 [12 AD3d 161] November 4, 2004 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, January 19, 2005

The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Jose Montanez, Appellant.

—[*1]Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Thomas Farber, J.), rendered June 11, 2003, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in or near school grounds, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third and fifth degrees, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to an aggregate term of 4½ to 9 years, unanimously affirmed.

The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. Issues of credibility, including the weight to be given to any inconsistencies in testimony, were properly considered by the jury, and there is no basis for disturbing its determinations (see People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987]). There was nothing implausible about the undercover detective's account of the drug transaction, and his testimony was corroborated by that of the arresting officer. Concur—Nardelli, J.P., Andrias, Sullivan, Williams and Friedman, JJ.