Opinion
No. 570222/17
06-21-2023
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jose Santana, Defendant-Appellant.
Unpublished Opinion
PRESENT: Brigantti, J.P., Michael, James, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Bahaati E. Pitt, J.), rendered September 7, 2016, convicting him, upon a plea of guilty, of criminal facilitation in the fourth degree, and imposing sentence.
Judgment of conviction (Bahaati E. Pitt, J.), rendered September 7, 2016, affirmed.
The accusatory instrument was not jurisdictionally defective. The misdemeanor complaint, which in this case was required to meet the standards that apply to an information, sufficiently alleged constructive possession of a controlled substance (see Penal Law § 220.03). Giving the instrument "a fair and not overly restrictive or technical reading" (People v Casey, 95 N.Y.2d 354, 360 [2000]), we find "as a matter of common sense and reasonable pleading" (People v Davis, 13 N.Y.3d 17, 31 [2009]) that it alleged that various drugs (crack/cocaine and marijuana) as well as drug paraphernalia were recovered from "inside of a hole of defendant's bedroom door" and "inside of the top drawer of defendant's dresser" at 2805 Grand Concourse. This supports an inference that defendant had constructive possession, i.e. "dominion and control" of the drugsand paraphernalia (Penal Law § 10.00[8]; see People v Cruz, 111 A.D.3d 453 [2013], lv denied 22 N.Y.3d 1040 [2013]; People v Skyles, 266 A.D.2d 321 [1999], lv denied 94 N.Y.2d 867 [1999]; see also People v Watson, 56 N.Y.2d 632, 633-634 [1982]), even though he may have been absent at the time of the search (see People v Torres, 68 N.Y.2d 677, 679 [1986]).