People v. Mercado

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County, rendered January 16, 1976, convicting defendant, upon a jury verdict, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, unanimously reversed, on the law, and a new trial ordered. At trial the evidence presented the issue of agency. The trial court erroneously charged the jury that if defendant received any benefit from his part in the transaction he was not the agent of the buyer. As we noted in People v Adams (60 AD2d 811-812): "The charge to the jury is subject to the interpretation that if defendant was found to have received some…