People v Santiago

People v Santiago 2011 NY Slip Op 01705 Decided on March 8, 2011 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 8, 2011
Andrias, J.P., Catterson, Moskowitz, Abdus-Salaam, Román, JJ.
4457 2616/08

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

v

Shawn Santiago, Defendant-Appellant.




Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Robert S. Dean of
counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Christopher
P. Marinelli of counsel), for respondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Daniel P. FitzGerald, J.), rendered October 9, 2009, as amended November 17, 2009, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second drug felony offender whose prior felony conviction was a violent felony, to a term of 9 years, unanimously modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, to the extent of reducing the sentence to 6 years, and otherwise affirmed.

The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 348 [2007]). Defendant claimed the bag he sold to an undercover officer did not contain cocaine but rather "beat" cocaine. There is no basis for disturbing the jury's credibility determination rejecting that claim.

We find the sentence excessive to the extent indicated.

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

ENTERED: MARCH 8, 2011

CLERK