PEOPLE v. VEGA (2000)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (William Wetzel, J.), rendered June 17, 1998, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third and fourth degrees, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to concurrent terms of 10 to 20 years, unanimously modified, on the law, to the extent of reducing the sentence on the fourth-degree possession conviction to a term of 7 1/212 to 15 years, and otherwise affirmed.

 The court properly exercised its discretion in imposing reasonable limits on defendant's cross-examination of the People's witnesses (see, People v. Melcherts, 225 A.D.2d 357, 639 N.Y.S.2d 19, lv. denied 88 N.Y.2d 881, 645 N.Y.S.2d 456, 668 N.E.2d 427).   Specifically, the court properly precluded defendant from questioning a police witness about details of unrelated arrests made on other occasions (see, People v. Johnson, 228 A.D.2d 389, 644 N.Y.S.2d 623, lv. denied 88 N.Y.2d 1022, 651 N.Y.S.2d 21, 673 N.E.2d 1248), and properly limited repetitious inquiries of limited probative value.

 The court properly exercised its discretion in denying defendant's request for a mistrial following the inadvertent elicitation of a brief reference to defendant's unsavory nickname.

As the People correctly concede, the maximum permissible sentence for defendant's fourth-degree possession conviction is 7 1/212 to 15 years, and we modify accordingly.   We perceive no basis for reduction of sentence on the other third-degree possession conviction.

MEMORANDUM DECISION.