People v. Sears

Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Westchester County (Couzens, J.), rendered February 1,1980, convicting him of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree (Penal Law, § 220.18, subd 1) and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (Penal Law, § 220.16, subd.l), upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. Judgment reversed, on the law, and new trial ordered. The trial court’s charge to the jury was improper and mandates a new trial. The charges against appellant arose, in part, out of his alleged possession of cocaine in an…