People v. Ortiz

OPINION OF THE COURT

Alexander, J.

Defendant, convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, assigns error to the trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury as to the agency defense. We conclude that such instruction was not warranted because no reasonable view of the evidence would support a finding that defendant, who directed a potential purchaser to a seller of narcotics, was acting as an agent of that purchaser.

Defendant was arrested in the course of a "buy and bust” operation conducted on Morris Avenue in the Bronx on January 6, 1986. According to the trial…