People v. Watkins

• Decision Date: 30 October 2014
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Gary WATKINS, Also Known as B WAR, Appellant.

?121 A.D.3d 1425
995 N.Y.S.2d 803
2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 07383

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Gary WATKINS, Also Known as B WAR, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Oct. 30, 2014

Affirmed.

Theodore J. Stein, Woodstock, for appellant.

D. Holley Carnright, District Attorney, Kingston (Carly Wolfrom of counsel), for respondent.

Before: LAHTINEN, J.P., McCARTHY, ROSE, LYNCH and DEVINE, JJ. McCARTHY, J.

Appeals (1) from a judgment of the County Court of Ulster County (Williams, J.), rendered December 3, 2012, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree (five counts) and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the

[995 N.Y.S.2d 804]

third degree (five counts), (2) from a judgment of said court, rendered February 20, 2013, which resentenced defendant following said convictions, and (3) from a judgment of said court, rendered February 20, 2013, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of attempted assault in the second degree.

Defendant was indicted after an undercover officer made five controlled buys of crack cocaine on two occasions from defendant directly and on three other occasions from codefendant Isiah Pickett. At trial, a jury found defendant guilty of five counts each of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. County Court sentenced him, as a second felony offender, to an aggregate prison term of 15 years, followed by three years of postrelease supervision.¹

In a separate matter, defendant was charged in a four-count indictment pertaining to an incident where he assaulted a man with a tire iron. After his trial on the drug charges, defendant pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of attempted assault in the second degree in satisfaction of that indictment. County Court imposed the agreed-upon sentence of 2 to 4 years in prison, to be served concurrently with his sentence on the drug charges. Defendant appeals.

The jury's verdict on the 10 drug counts was not contrary to the weight of the evidence. Defendant argues that the evidence did not adequately establish his identity as the person involved in any of these transactions, or that he acted in concert with Pickett for three alleged sales. The undercover officer testified and identified defendant as the individual who personally sold him crack cocaine on two...