People v. Victor

The defendant was convicted in the County Court of Chenango County of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second and third degrees, conspiracy in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees. We successfully appealed the case, obtaining a conviction dismissal of one of the weapons charges and a judgment reversal of all remaining charges.

We Proved Conviction for Criminal Possession of a Defaced Weapon Was Flawed

While executing a search warrant of a storage unit, police found several weapons. The serial number on one of the weapons was alleged to be scratched, etched or ground off, resulting in the defendant being charged and convicted of possession of a defaced weapon. On appeal, Ben Ostrer successfully argued that this conviction was against the weight of the evidence. He demonstrated that the photographs of the revolver found in the storage unit, that had been admitted into evidence, did not reflect that the serial number was defaced and presented evidence that the officer’s testimony at trial did not address the condition of the serial number on that revolver. Based on these arguments, Defendant’s conviction on this count was dismissed.

Identified Procedural Error Results in Judgment Reversal

On appeal, we raised issues as to the County Court’s handling of jury notes. Rather than read a note verbatim, the court paraphrased a note omitting a key term. Ben Ostrer successfully argued that the court’s actions regarding the reading of the note constituted mode of proceedings errors that required a reversal of judgment for the defendant. The Appellate Division Third Department agreed, and reversed judgment on all counts.

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