People v. Rodriguez

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County, entered January 9, 1975, convicting defendant of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and sentencing him to an indeterminate term of five years to life imprisonment, is unanimously reversed, on the law and as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, and a new trial is directed. The defense in the case was that defendant was acting not on behalf of the seller of the narcotics but as agent for the buyer, an undercover police officer. The evidence presented a question of fact as to this issue. Although the court gave an…