People v. Ryan

• Decision Date: 16 December 1993
• Citation: 82 N.Y.2d 497,605 N.Y.S.2d 235,626 N.E.2d 51
• Parties: , 626 N.E.2d 51 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Robert C. RYAN, Appellant.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 235

605 N.Y.S.2d 235

82 N.Y.2d 497, 626 N.E.2d 51

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Robert C. RYAN, Appellant.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Dec. 16, 1993.

[82 N.Y.2d 498] James P. Kelley and D. James O'Neil, Wappingers Falls, for appellant.

[82 N.Y.2d 499] Michael Coccoma, Dist. Atty. of Otsego County, Cooperstown (Brian D. Burns, of counsel), for respondent.

OPINION OF THE COURT

KAYE, Chief Judge.

Penal Law § 220.18(5) makes it a felony to "knowingly and unlawfully possess * * * six hundred twenty-five milligrams of a hallucinogen." The question of statutory interpretation before us is whether "knowingly" applies to the weight of the controlled substance. We conclude that it does and that the trial evidence was insufficient to satisfy that mental culpability element.

A subsidiary issue concerns the denial of defendant's request to represent himself at trial. We agree with defendant that the trial court's basis for denying the application was improper, and that the issue was not waived in a subsequent letter to the trial court or in his jurisdictional statement to this Court.

I.

Viewed in a light most favorable to the People (People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620, 621, 467 N.Y.S.2d 349, 454 N.E.2d 932), the trial evidence revealed that on October 2, 1990 defendant asked his friend David Hopkins to order and receive a shipment of hallucinogenic mushrooms on his behalf. Hopkins agreed, and adhering to defendant's instructions placed a call to their mutual friend Scott in San Francisco and requested the "usual shipment." Tipped off to the transaction, on October 5 State Police Investigator Douglas Vredenburgh located the package at a Federal Express warehouse in Binghamton. The package was opened (pursuant to a search warrant) and resealed after its contents were verified. The investigator then borrowed a Federal Express uniform and van and delivered the package to Hopkins, the addressee, who was arrested upon signing for it.

Hopkins explained that the package was for defendant and agreed to participate in a supervised delivery to him. In a telephone call recorded by the police, Hopkins notified defendant that he got the package, reporting a "shit load of mushrooms in there." Defendant responded, "I know, don't say nothing." At another point Hopkins referred to the shipment containing two pounds. The men agreed to meet later that evening at the firehouse in West Oneonta.

At the meeting, after a brief conversation, Hopkins handed defendant a substitute package stuffed with newspaper. Moments after taking possession, defendant was arrested. He was later indicted for attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree.

In pretrial letters to the Trial Judge, defendant expressed dissatisfaction with his assigned attorney and requested permission to represent himself. The Judge held a hearing, questioning defendant on his knowledge of the law and trial procedure. Defendant, who had three years of college and had previously stood trial for another offense, provided answers that were reasonably accurate for a layperson. ¹ Nevertheless, the court denied the request, concluding that defendant was "not sufficiently qualified to represent [him]self in this charge that faces life imprisonment." In a subsequent letter dated May 13, 1991, defendant thanked the Judge for taking time to determine whether he was capable of representing himself, expressing confidence that he would get a fair trial and the hope that, with his attorney's help, he would soon earn his freedom.

The case proceeded to trial, where the evidence summarized above was adduced. Additionally, the police chemist testified that the total weight of the mushrooms in Hopkins' package was 932.8 grams (about two pounds), and that a 140-gram sample of the package contents contained 796 milligrams of psilocybin, a hallucinogen (Penal Law § 220.00[9]; Public Health Law § 3306 [schedule I][d][19]. He did not know, however, the process by which psilocybin appears in mushrooms, whether naturally, by injection or some other means. Nor was there any evidence as to how much psilocybin would typically appear in two pounds of mushrooms.

At the close of the People's case, defendant moved to dismiss for insufficient proof that he knew the level of psilocybin in the mushrooms, and also requested a charge-down to seventh degree attempted criminal possession, which has no weight element. Both applications were denied, defendant was convicted as charged, and he was sentenced as a second felony offender to 10 years-to-life.

The Appellate Division affirmed. The court held that a defendant must know the nature of the substance possessed, and acknowledged that the weight of the controlled substance is an element of the crime. The court declined, however, to read the statute as requiring that a defendant have actual knowledge of the weight. Instead, the court held that "the term 'knowingly' should be construed to refer only to the element of possession and not to the weight requirement." (184 A.D.2d 24, 27, 591 N.Y.S.2d 218.)

Finding ample evidence that defendant intended and attempted to possess psilocybin while knowing the nature of the substance, and that the weight of the psilocybin ultimately proved to be more than 625 milligrams, the Appellate Division sustained the conviction. Similarly, because there was no reasonable view of the evidence that the weight of the psilocybin in the mushrooms was less than 625 milligrams, the court rejected the argument that the trial court erred in refusing the charge-down.

Finally, the Appellate Division concluded that, by virtue of his May 13 letter, defendant waived any objection with respect to the denial of his request to proceed pro se.

We now reverse.

II.

Although the present case involves an attempt, analysis begins with the elements of the completed crime, second degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Penal Law § 220.18(5) provides:

"A person is guilty of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree when he knowingly and unlawfully possesses: * * *

"5. six hundred twenty-five milligrams of a hallucinogen."

It is undisputed that the knowledge requirement of the statute applies to the element of possession (see also, Penal Law § 15.00[2], and that defendant must also have "actual knowledge of the nature of the possessed substance" (People v. Reisman, 29 N.Y.2d 278, 285, 327 N.Y.S.2d 342, 277 N.E.2d 396). At issue is whether defendant must similarly know the weight of the material possessed. That is a question of statutory interpretation, as to which the Court's role is clear: our purpose is not to pass on the wisdom of the statute or any of its requirements, but rather to implement the will of the Legislature as expressed in its enactment (People v. Smith, 79 N.Y.2d 309, 311, 582 N.Y.S.2d 946, 591 N.E.2d 1132).

In effectuating legislative intent, we look first of course to the statutory language. Read in context, it seems evident that "knowingly" does apply to the weight element. Indeed, given that a defendant's awareness must extend not only to the fact of possessing something ("knowingly * * * possesses") but also to the nature of the material possessed ("knowingly * * * possesses * * * a hallucinogen"), any other reading would be strained. Inasmuch as the knowledge requirement carries through to the end of the sentence (see, People v. Reisman, 29 N.Y.2d, at 285, 327 N.Y.S.2d 342, 277 N.E.2d 396), eliminating it from the intervening element--weight--would rob the statute of its obvious meaning. We conclude, therefore, that there is a mens rea element associated with the weight of the drug.

That reading is fortified by two rules of construction ordained by the Legislature itself. First, a "statute defining a crime, unless clearly indicating a legislative intent to impose strict liability, should be construed as defining a crime of mental culpability" (Penal Law § 15.15[2]. If any material element of an offense lacks a mens rea requirement, it is a strict liability crime (Penal Law § 15.10). Conversely, a crime is one of "mental culpability" only when a mental state "is required with respect to every material element of an offense" (id.).

By ruling that a defendant need not have knowledge of the weight, the Appellate Division in effect held, to that extent, that second degree criminal possession is a strict liability crime (see, Penal Law § 15.10). That is an erroneous statutory construction unless a legislative intent to achieve that result is "clearly indicat[ed]" (Penal Law § 15.15[2].

In a similar vein, the Legislature has provided in Penal Law § 15.15(1):

"Construction of statutes with respect to culpability requirements.

"1. When the commission of an offense defined in this chapter, or some element of an offense, requires a particular culpable mental state, such mental state is ordinarily designated in the statute defining the offense by use of the terms 'intentionally,' 'knowingly,' 'recklessly' or 'criminal negligence,' or by use of terms, such as 'with intent to defraud' and 'knowing it to be false,' describing a specific kind of intent or knowledge. When one and only one of such terms appears in a statute defining an offense, it is presumed to apply to every element of the offense unless an intent to limit its application clearly appears." (Emphasis added.)

Accordingly, if a single mens rea is set forth, as here, ² it presumptively applies to all elements of the offense unless a contrary legislative intent is plain.

We discern no "clear" legislative intent to make the weight of a drug a strict liability element, as is required before we can construe the statute in that manner (Penal Law § 15.15[1], [2]. Moreover, the over-all structure of the drug possession laws supports the view that a defendant must have some knowledge of the weight.

There are six degrees of criminal possession of a controlled substance, graded in...