People v. Gould (Walter)

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, against Walter Gould, Defendant-Appellant. Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County (Sandra Elena Roper, J.), rendered April 11, 2018, convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, and imposing sentence. Per Curiam. Judgment of conviction (Sandra Elena Roper, J.), rendered April 11, 2018, affirmed. The accusatory instrument was not jurisdictionally defective. It charged all the elements of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree (see Penal Law § 265.01[2]). Defendant's intent to use the weapon, an imitation pistol, in an unlawful manner is reasonably inferred from allegations that defendant "pointed what appeared to be a firearm at [the victim] during a verbal altercation" (see People v Purvis, 90 AD3d 1339, 1340 [2011], lv denied 18 NY3d 997 [2012]). The factual allegations in the accusatory instrument were also sufficient to place defendant on notice that the imitation pistol recovered during the search of his home was the same one that he displayed during the altercation. Any further challenge by defendant to the connection between the weapons was a matter to be raised as a defense at trial, not by insistence that the accusatory instrument was jurisdictionally defective (see People v Konieczny, 2 NY3d 569, 577 [2004]). Any hearsay defect in the instrument was waived by defendant's guilty plea (see People v Keizer, 100 NY2d 114, 121-123 [2003]). THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT. I concur I concur I concur Decision Date: September 25, 2019