Summary
finding sufficient foundation for admission of a knife into evidence based on testimony of the officer that the knife was the same knife he recovered from the defendant and was in the same condition as when he recovered it
Summary of this case from Rios v. BradtOpinion
No. 3339.
October 12, 2010.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Juan M. Merchan, J.), rendered September 22, 2009, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 3 to 6 years, unanimously affirmed.
Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Robert S. Dean of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Matthew C. Williams, of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Mazzarelli, J.P., Sweeny, Moskowitz, Acosta and Román, JJ.
The court properly received a switchblade knife in evidence. The officer testified that it was the same knife he recovered from defendant and that it was in the same condition as it was when he recovered it. This was a sufficient foundation for admission of this nonfungible item ( see generally People v Connelly, 35 NY2d 171, 174); in any event, the People also established a proper chain of custody. Defendant's suggestion that, by placing a piece of tape on the knife and then removing it the officer may have somehow rendered an inoperable switchblade knife operable is highly speculative.