People v. Mathis

Judgment unanimously reversed on the law and indictment dismissed. Memorandum: We agree with defendant that the evidence is legally insufficient to support his conviction of promoting prison contraband in the first degree (Penal Law § 205.25 [2]) because the People failed to prove that the items of alleged contraband that he possessed, i.e., a bat and/or a weight bar, are contraband. Penal Law § 205.00 (3) defines “contraband” as “any article or thing which a person confined in a detention facility is prohibited from obtaining or possessing by statute, rule, regulation or order.” In…