Opinion
No. 570975/18
10-18-2024
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Willie Johnson (Willie), Defendant-Appellant.
Unpublished Opinion
PRESENT: Tisch, J.P., James, Perez, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Defendant Willie Johnson appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Bahaati E. Pitt, J.), rendered September 5, 2018, convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, and imposing sentence.
Judgment of conviction (Bahaati E. Pitt, J.), rendered September 5, 2018, affirmed.
In view of defendant's knowing waiver of the right to prosecution by information, the accusatory instrument only had to satisfy the reasonable cause requirement of a misdemeanor complaint (see People v Dumay, 23 N.Y.3d 518, 522 [2014]). So viewed, the accusatory instrument was jurisdictionally valid because it described facts of an evidentiary nature establishing reasonable cause to believe that defendant was guilty of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (see Penal Law § 220.03). The instrument alleged that an undercover police officer approached co-defendant Shoshonah Johnson (Shoshonah) who, after a "drug-related conversation about the purchase of crack cocaine," left the location and returned a short time later with defendant Willie Johnson. The defendants touched hands and Shoshonah then handed the undercover officer two plastic ziplock bags, each containing crack cocaine. These allegations support an inference that defendant took part in the drug transaction as part of a team of drug dealers (see People v Tinnin, 36 A.D.3d 457, 458 [2007]), lv denied 8 N.Y.3d 991 [2007]; see People v Jones, 90 N.Y.3d 835 [1997]), and that he was a joint possessor of the contraband (see People v Robinson, 129 A.D.3d 550 [2015], lv denied 26 N.Y.3d 1010 [2015]; People v Rivera, 76 Misc.3d 137 [A], 2022 NY Slip Op 50998[U] [App Term, 1st Dept 2022]).