People v. Munoz
| Decision Date | 10 November 1976 |
| Citation | 54 A.D.2d 844,388 N.Y.S.2d 307 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Bernardo MUNOZ, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
D. Spokony, Brooklyn, for respondent.
L. E. Alperin, New York City, for defendant-appellant.
Before STEVENS, P.J., and MARKEWICH, KUPFERMAN, SILVERMAN and LYNCH, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County, rendered October 24, 1975, convicting defendant of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and sentencing him to an indeterminate term of imprisonment from one year to life, is unanimously reversed on the law and the facts and the indictment is dismissed. If the defendant is still incarcerated, he shall be discharged forthwith.
In our view there is a reasonable doubt as a matter of law (Cf. People v. Ledwon, 153 N.Y. 10, 17, 46 N.E. 1046, 1048 (1897)) whether defendant was acting as agent for the buyer and thus was not guilty of the crime. We think it was particularly unfair for the police to use the defendant's supervisor in a methadone maintenance program as a confidential informant, under a promise that the confidential informant's client, the defendant, would not be prosecuted, and for the defendant then to be prosecuted for obtaining narcotics at the request of his supervisor and the police.
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Lam Lek Chong
...N.Y.S.2d 410; People v. Flanagan, 47 A.D.2d 959, 367 N.Y.S.2d 98; People v. Bostick, 51 A.D.2d 749, 379 N.Y.S.2d 169; People v. Munoz, 54 A.D.2d 844, 388 N.Y.S.2d 307). The so-called agency defense is not a complete defense. The defendant who has been a party to a drug sale is not relieved ......
- Chang v. City of N.Y.
-
People v. Ali
...Gonzalez, supra; People v. Kiser, 63 A.D.2d 707, 404 N.Y.S.2d 1005; People v. Tiller, 61 A.D.2d 916, 402 N.Y.S.2d 841; People v. Munoz, 54 A.D.2d 844, 388 N.Y.S.2d 307; People v. Lindsey, 16 A.D.2d 805, 228 N.Y.S.2d 427, affd. 12 N.Y.2d 958, 238 N.Y.S.2d 956, 189 N.E.2d The evidence in the ......
-
People v. McLeod
...affirmative defense of entrapment was unsuccessfully pursued in this trial, this case is unpleasantly close in flavor to People v. Munoz, 54 A.D.2d 844, 388 N.Y.S.2d 307, wherein we condemned the practice there pursued of setting up an informant to encourage another person to become involve......