Opinion
2012-06-7
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jessie RAMIREZ, Defendant–Appellant.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Jody Ratner of counsel), for appellant. Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Lindsey Ramistella of counsel), for respondent.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Jody Ratner of counsel), for appellant. Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Lindsey Ramistella of counsel), for respondent.
, J.P., ANDRIAS, MOSKOWITZ, ACOSTA, ABDUS–SALAAM, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Denis J. Boyle, J. at suppression hearing; Analisa Torres, J. at jury trial and sentencing), rendered September 21, 2009, convicting defendant of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him to a term of five years' probation, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly denied defendant's suppression motion. The arresting officer's testimony that he received a radio transmission from a ghost officer about a drug sale, along with the arresting officer's knowledge of the ghost's role in the planned undercover operation, permitted an inference that the transmission was based on the ghost officer's presumptively reliable observations ( see People v. Ketcham, 93 N.Y.2d 416, 420–421, 690 N.Y.S.2d 874, 712 N.E.2d 1238 [1999] ). This report provided probable cause to arrest defendant once the officer saw him in the vicinity of the drug transaction about five minutes after receiving the radio report and observed that he matched the sufficiently detailed description provided in that report ( see e.g. People v. Ramos, 287 A.D.2d 305, 731 N.Y.S.2d 682 [2001],lv. denied97 N.Y.2d 658, 737 N.Y.S.2d 59, 762 N.E.2d 937 [2001] ).
We have considered and rejected defendant's remaining claims.