Opinion
January 4, 2000
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Gerald Sheindlin, J.), rendered February 21, 1996, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 5 to 10 years, unanimously affirmed.
Michael Sobie, for respondent.
Ronald L. Kuby, for defendant-appellant.
ROSENBERGER, J.P., WILLIAMS, LERNER, SAXE, BUCKLEY, JJ.
Defendant's motion for a trial order of dismissal failed to preserve his venue claim sufficiently (see, People v. Greenberg 89 N.Y.2d 553, 556; People v. Pilgrim, 52 N.Y.2d 730), and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. Were we to review this claim, we would find that evidence that the crime occurred at a particular location that is indisputably within Bronx County was sufficient to establish venue (see, People v. Peterson, 194 A.D.2d 124, 127, lv denied 83 N.Y.2d 256; People v. Groom, 188 A.D.2d 674, 675).
The court's Sandoval ruling, allowing the prosecution to inquire into a prior Federal conviction for possession of narcotics with intent to distribute while precluding inquiry into its underlying facts, was a proper exercise of discretion that struck an appropriate balance between the probative value of defendant's prior conviction and the risk of unfair prejudice to him (see,People v. Walker 83 N.Y.2d 455; People v. Pavao, 59 N.Y.2d 282, 292).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.