People v. Cooper

I am not as certain as the majority that People v Ryan (82 NY2d 497) must be retroactively applied. In Ryan the Court of Appeals found that there was a statutory mens rea requirement associated with the weight of a controlled substance. However, in an analogous situation, People v Antommarchi (80 NY2d 247) was also decided on statutory grounds (CPL 260.20) and expressly was held to have only prospective effect to cases in which jury selection occurred after the date of that decision (People v Mitchell, 80 NY2d 519, 529; see also, People v Sprowal, 84 NY2d 113).

Further, as the majority…