People v. Maldonado

OPINION OF THE COURT

Simons, J.

The Penal Law provides that a person is guilty of escape in the first degree when "[h]aving been arrested for * * * a class A or class B felony, he escapes from custody” (Penal Law § 205.15 [2]). Lower degrees of escape are predicated on an arrest for lesser charges. In this case, defendant has been charged with escape in the first degree following his arrest for selling narcotics, a B felony (see, Penal Law § 220.39 [1]). The question submitted is whether the People presented sufficient evidence of the underlying narcotic crime to support the indictment for…