PEOPLE v. COSTE (2008)

Appeal from judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Budd G. Goodman, J.), rendered September 23, 2004, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 3 to 6 years, held in abeyance and the matter remitted to Supreme Court, New York County, for a Mapp hearing.

Although defendant denied that he had the physical evidence at issue on his person, he was not required to admit possession in order to comply with the factual pleading requirement of CPL 710.60 (People v. Burton, 6 N.Y.3d 584, 589, 815 N.Y.S.2d 7, 848 N.E.2d 454 [2006];  People v. Johnson, 42 A.D.3d 341, 839 N.Y.S.2d 741 [2007] ).   Rather, he was entitled to meet his evidentiary burden by using a police officer's statement that the property in question was seized from his person.