Opinion ID: 797178
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: a narcotic drug with intent to sell it; or

Text: 13 . . . . 14 12. one or more preparations, compounds, mixtures or substances of an aggregate weight of one-half ounce or more containing a narcotic drug. 15 N.Y. Penal Law §§ 220.16(1) and (12) (McKinney 1987). In order to show that Green was convicted under subsection (1) for possession with intent to distribute, the government introduced several documents. They included (a) the indictment that led to Green's 1996 conviction in New York Supreme Court for Kings County (New York Indictment) under § 220.16; (b) a Sentence and Order of Commitment dated October 16, 1996, signed by that court's Clerk (Commitment Order); and (c) a computer-generated document from the Clerk's Office of the New York Supreme Court for Kings County (Kings County Clerk's Office), entitled Certificate of Disposition Indictment (hereafter Certificate of Disposition). 16 The New York Indictment charged Green (under his alias Micheal Wilson) in four counts, only the second of which is relevant here. It alleged as follows: 17 The grand jury of the County of Kings by this indictment, accuse the defendant of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree committed as follows: 18 The defendant, on or about November 29, 1987, in the County of Kings, knowingly and unlawfully possessed a narcotic drug, namely: cocaine, with intent to sell it. 19 (New York Indictment, Second Count.) Although no section was cited, this count described a violation of subsection (1) of New York Penal Law § 220.16. 20 It is undisputed that the New York Indictment was resolved by Green's plea of guilty to attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, an offense under § 220.16 and New York Penal Law § 110.00 (attempt). The government was unable, however, to obtain from the New York court either a formal judgment or a transcript of the plea proceeding. The Commitment Order states that Green was sentenced to six months' imprisonment plus a five-year term of probation and specifies Green's offense of conviction in abbreviated form as ATT CPCS 3° — presumably denoting attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. The Commitment Order does not mention § 220.16 in haec verba, nor, perforce, any of its subsections. Thus, Green argued that he could have pleaded guilty to, and been convicted of, a violation of subsection (12), which prohibits mere possession, rather than subsection (1) under which he was charged. 21 The Certificate of Disposition introduced by the government is a document that was generated on March 15, 2004, from the Kings County Clerk's Office database. Signed and officially sealed by Wilbur A. Levin, County Clerk, it states as follows: 22 I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT IT APPEARS FROM AN EXAMINATION OF THE RECORDS ON FILE IN THIS OFFICE THAT ON 10/02/1996 THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT WAS CONVICTED OF THE CRIME(S) BELOW BEFORE JUSTICE DEMAREST, C E THEN A JUSTICE OF THIS COURT. 23 ATTEMPTED CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE 3rd DEGREE PL 110-220.16 01 CF (DANGEROUS DRUG) 24