Opinion
01-25-2017
The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Azhar WIGGINS, appellant.
Bruce R. Bekritsky, Mineola, NY, for appellant. Madeline Singas, District Attorney, Mineola, NY (Tammy J. Smiley and Michael J. Balch of counsel), for respondent.
Bruce R. Bekritsky, Mineola, NY, for appellant.
Madeline Singas, District Attorney, Mineola, NY (Tammy J. Smiley and Michael J. Balch of counsel), for respondent.
RANDALL T. ENG, P.J., RUTH C. BALKIN, SANDRA L. SGROI, and BETSY BARROS, JJ.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Harrington, J.), rendered June 17, 2015, convicting him of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing pursuant to a stipulation in lieu of motions (Paradiso, J.), of the suppression of physical evidence and the defendant's statements to law enforcement officials.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The hearing court properly denied suppression of physical evidence and the defendant's statements to law enforcement officials. "The hearing court's credibility determinations are entitled to great deference on appeal and will not be disturbed unless clearly unsupported by the record" (People v. Grant, 83 A.D.3d 862, 863, 921 N.Y.S.2d 285 ; see People v. Frazier, 140 A.D.3d 977, 977–978, 34 N.Y.S.3d 467 ). Here, the record supports the hearing court's determination to credit the testimony of a detective, experienced in policing drug crimes, that from 10–15 feet away, he observed the defendant exchange a small plastic bag for currency. Further, this observation, coupled with the defendant's immediate flight upon seeing the detectives, the detectives' training and experience, and testimony that the exchange occurred in an area known for drug crime, were sufficient to supply probable cause for the defendant's arrest (see People v. McRay, 51 N.Y.2d 594, 603–604, 435 N.Y.S.2d 679, 416 N.E.2d 1015 ; People v. Vega, 56 A.D.3d 578, 579, 871 N.Y.S.2d 146 ; People v. Powell, 32 A.D.3d 544, 544–545, 820 N.Y.S.2d 324 ; People v. Hall, 234 A.D.2d 478, 479, 651 N.Y.S.2d 575 ).
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution (see People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620, 621, 467 N.Y.S.2d 349, 454 N.E.2d 932 ), we find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt of criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degree. Moreover, in fulfilling our responsibility to conduct an independent review of the weight of the evidence (see CPL 470.15[5] ), we are satisfied that the verdict of guilt on those counts was not against the weight of the evidence (see People v. Romero, 7 N.Y.3d 633, 643, 826 N.Y.S.2d 163, 859 N.E.2d 902 ).
The defendant argues that certain jurors should have been dismissed for cause based upon comments they made during jury selection. However, the defendant waived this contention by failing to challenge the jurors for cause before they were sworn (see CPL 270.15[4] ; People v. Boyce, 118 A.D.3d 1016, 1017, 988 N.Y.S.2d 262 ; People v. Sellers, 295 A.D.2d 629, 744 N.Y.S.2d 870 ).
The defendant's remaining contentions are unpreserved for appellate review and, in any event, without merit.