People v. Rodriguez

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bernard Fried, J.), rendered April 20, 1994, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 41/2 to 9 years, unanimously affirmed.

The undercover officer’s testimony regarding his previous undercover narcotics purchases and the manner in which heroin is packaged was permissible background information that provided the jury with an understanding as to what certain phrases spoken by the detective and defendant meant, and stated in…