People v. Zapata

—Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Martin Rettinger, J.), rendered March 25, 1996, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 4V2 to 9 years and 2 to 4 years, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant’s suppression motion was properly denied. As he lawfully approached defendant, and prior to any search, the arresting officer observed defendant “drinking what reasonably appeared to be an…