From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Varela

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Dec 20, 1984
106 A.D.2d 339 (N.Y. App. Div. 1984)

Opinion

December 20, 1984

Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Bradley, J.).


For the purposes of this appeal we accept as true the assertions that defendant and a friend sold 3 1/8 ounces of cocaine to an undercover police officer in the summer of 1982. Defendant supplied the cocaine and pocketed $6,000 from the sale. A loaded gun and assorted drug paraphernalia were found shortly thereafter in defendant's hotel room. Despite the strength of the People's case against defendant, as well as defendant's apparent active involvement in the narcotics trade, both of which Trial Term acknowledged, the court nevertheless granted defendant's motion to dismiss "in the interests of justice" the top counts of the indictment, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree.

In its decision, the court noted defendant's lack of a prior criminal record, his "exemplary" background at work, in the Air Force, as a father and as a civic affairs volunteer. The court also found that the drug, cocaine, defendant had chosen to sell was less harmful than heroin and was sold in a business district "presumably * * * exclusively to adults participating in the currently-fashionable drug scene." Thus, the court concluded that although a prison sentence, which defendant was still eligible to receive under the remaining counts of the indictments, was appropriate, life imprisonment would not be.

We disagree and reverse the hearing court's dismissal of these two counts. Neither the criteria set forth in CPL 210.40 nor the reasons advanced by the Supreme Court constitute compelling factors that clearly demonstrate that conviction or prosecution of defendant would constitute or result in injustice (CPL 210.40; People v. Rickert, 58 N.Y.2d 122).

The fact that defendant has no prior criminal record is insufficient to justify a dismissal in the interests of justice ( People v. Andrew, 78 A.D.2d 683). His "exemplary" background, likewise, does not immunize him from the normal processes of the criminal law. That defendant sold cocaine, rather than heroin, to adults in a business district is also not a mitigating factor. Defendant, who earned $35,000 a year, committed this crime out of greed, not financial need or to obtain money to support a drug addiction. Furthermore, the loaded gun and drug paraphernalia, found in the hotel room defendant used to ply his trade, indicate that he was not a simple, small-time vendor or that this was an isolated aberrational act on his part. The court's action, therefore, in dismissing the top counts of the indictments was an abuse of discretion.

Concur — Murphy, P.J., Sandler, Asch, Milonas and Alexander, JJ. [ 121 Misc.2d 1051.]


Summaries of

People v. Varela

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Dec 20, 1984
106 A.D.2d 339 (N.Y. App. Div. 1984)
Case details for

People v. Varela

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Appellant, v. BENIGNO VARELA…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

Date published: Dec 20, 1984

Citations

106 A.D.2d 339 (N.Y. App. Div. 1984)

Citing Cases

People v. Camargo

d result in injustice. The court is aware of the 10 statutory guidelines set forth by CPL 210.40 and the…

People v. Aleynikov

Defendant is a "highly skilled programmer who was poised to put his prodigious skills back to use" (DML:67)…