Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Shamel Smith, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2003-06-26
Citations: 306 A.D.2d 225
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Shamel Smith, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 306
Pages: 225–226

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Shamel Smith, Appellant.
[760 NYS2d 855]

Opinion:
—Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (William Wetzel, J.), rendered June 3, 2002, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 2V3 to 7 years, unanimously reversed, on the law, the conviction vacated and the indictment dismissed.
As the People commendably concede, when defendant, who was not impersonating anyone, signed his own actual name to a screenplay written by someone else, the screenplay at issue was not a forgery under the Penal Law (see People v Levitan, 49 NY2d 87, 90 [1980]). Since the only crime of which defendant stands convicted is criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, he is entitled to vacatur of his conviction and dismissal of the indictment. Concur — Andrias, J.P., Sullivan, Ellerin, Williams and Lerner, JJ.