People v. Kelly

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Marrus, J.), rendered November 21, 1988, convicting him of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

An undercover police officer made a face-to-face purchase of a quantity of drugs with prerecorded money. Immediately upon leaving the scene, he transmitted a description of the seller to his backup team, which arrested the defendant within minutes. A jury could reasonably rely on that identification of the defendant because it involved a very specific description of his physical characteristics and clothing, made minutes after the sale by a trained police officer under conditions conducive to accurate observation (see, People v Fisher, 143 AD2d 1037 ; People v Azzara, 138 AD2d 495 ).

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we find that it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (see, People v Contes, 60 NY2d 620 ). Moreover, upon the exercise of our factual review power, we are satisfied that the verdict of guilt was not against the weight of the evidence (see, CPL 470.15 [5]; People v Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490 ).

Finally, we find that the sentence imposed was not excessive (see, People v Suitte, 90 AD2d 80 ). Thompson, J. P., Lawrence, Harwood and O’Brien, JJ., concur.