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People v. St. John

Court of Appeals of the State of New York
Apr 1, 1997
679 N.E.2d 1071 (N.Y. 1997)

Opinion

Argued February 11, 1997

Decided April 1, 1997

APPEAL, by permission of an Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, from an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Second Judicial Department, entered November 20, 1995, which affirmed (1) a judgment of the Westchester County Court (Humphreys, J.), rendered upon a verdict convicting defendant of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and (2) an order of said court (Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr., J.), denying a motion by defendant to vacate the judgment pursuant to CPL 440.10.

Leslie B. Green, Valhalla, for appellant.

Jeanine Pirro, District Attorney of Westchester County, White Plains ( Gregory Babikian and Maryanne Luciano of counsel), for respondent.


People v St. John, 221 A.D.2d 575, affirmed.


MEMORANDUM.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

On this appeal from an order affirming defendant's conviction of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and third degrees, and the denial of his motion to vacate those convictions pursuant to CPL 440.10, the sole issue raised is whether the People failed to disclose, as Brady material ( Brady v Maryland, 373 U.S. 83), the full terms of a cooperation agreement between the District Attorney and a codefendant, who had been permitted to plead guilty to two A-II felonies and was a People's witness at defendant's trial. Defendant asserts that the agreement required the codefendant to testify against him in exchange for a recommendation of lifetime probation, and that this obligation was omitted from the prosecution's pretrial disclosure of the agreement.

Following an evidentiary hearing on defendant's motion to vacate, County Court found that no agreement or understanding of an obligation to testify against defendant was part of the cooperation agreement, or a necessary condition precedent to favorable consideration at sentencing. The Appellate Division affirmed, also concluding that the claim of a mutual understanding regarding the codefendant's obligation to testify against defendant was without merit ( 221 A.D.2d 575). Because our own examination of the record reveals factual support for the findings of the lower courts, the denial of defendant's motion to vacate is beyond this Court's further review ( see, People v Blim, 46 N.Y.2d 934, 935; People v Gruttola, 43 N.Y.2d 116, 122). We also conclude that the Appellate Division correctly determined that the evidence was legally sufficient to establish defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Chief Judge KAYE and Judges TITONE, BELLACOSA, SMITH, LEVINE, CIPARICK and WESLEY concur.

Order affirmed in a memorandum.


Summaries of

People v. St. John

Court of Appeals of the State of New York
Apr 1, 1997
679 N.E.2d 1071 (N.Y. 1997)
Case details for

People v. St. John

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. PAUL ST. JOHN…

Court:Court of Appeals of the State of New York

Date published: Apr 1, 1997

Citations

679 N.E.2d 1071 (N.Y. 1997)
679 N.E.2d 1071
657 N.Y.S.2d 591

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