People v. Lediard — 115 A.D.2d 564

Majority

p. 564

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v William Lediard, Appellant.

Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Bonomo, J.), rendered March 3, 1982, convicting him of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, upon a jury verdict and imposing sentence.

Judgment affirmed.

As defendant was being arrested a police officer asked "where is the gun?”. Defendant replied that he had no gun; "it was a pipe”. Under the circumstances of this case, this statement was properly admitted as a response to a question the police properly asked in order to clarify a situation and protect themselves (see, People v Johnson, 86 AD2d 165 , 168, affd 59 NY2d 1014 ).

We find that the evidence was sufficient to prove defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. We have reviewed defendant’s remaining contentions and find them to be without merit. Lazer, J. P., Thompson, Weinstein and Niehoff, JJ., concur.

Cases cited

People v. Johnson 86 AD2d 165 N.Y. App. Div. 1982-04-13 at 168 p. 564
People v. Johnson 59 NY2d 1014 N.Y. 1983-07-07 p. 564