Opinion
Appeal No. 15097 Ind. No. 2845/17Case No. 2019-03535 Ind. 2845/17
01-18-2022
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Raymond Reid, Defendant-Appellant. Appeal No. 15097 No. 2019-03535
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Kenneth I. Crouch of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Jennifer Westphal of counsel), for respondent.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Kenneth I. Crouch of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Jennifer Westphal of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Manzanet-Daniels, J.P., Gische, Kern, Mazzarelli, Gesmer, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Maxwell Wiley, J.), rendered May 8, 2019, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony drug offender previously convicted of a violent felony, to concurrent terms of seven years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly denied defendant's suppression motion. There is no basis for disturbing the court's credibility determinations (see People v Prochilo, 41 N.Y.2d 759, 761 [1977]). The police had probable cause to arrest defendant based on their observations of what reasonably appeared to be a drug transaction.
Defendant did not preserve his challenge to an officer's testimony that the alleged buyer spontaneously admitted having on his person the drugs he bought, and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. As an alternate holding, we find no basis for reversal. There was no Confrontation Clause violation because the testimony was not received for its truth, but to complete the narrative and explain police actions (see People v Newland, 6 A.D.3d 330 [1st Dept 2004], lv denied 3 N.Y.3d 679 [2004]).
We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.