Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court, New York County (Patricia M. Nunez, J.), rendered June 25, 2004, convicting him, upon a plea of guilty, of criminal possession of marihuana in the fifth degree, and imposing sentence.

PER CURIAM:

Judgment of conviction (Patricia M. Nunez, J.), rendered June 25, 2004, affirmed.

The accusatory instrument sufficiently set forth the factual basis for the misdemeanor marihuana possession charge to which defendant ultimately pleaded guilty, by alleging, inter alia, that defendant was observed inside a car at a specified street corner on Lenox Avenue in Manhattan passing a large ziplock bag of marihuana to another individual, who placed the bag between the console and front passenger seat. These allegations, "given a fair and not overly restrictive or technical reading" (People v Casey, 95 NY2d 354, 360 [2000]), were sufficient for pleading purposes to establish the public place element of the charged offense, viz., that the offense occurred at "a place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access" (Penal Law § 240.00) and that the marihuana was "open to public view" (Penal Law § 221.10); see People v Guzman, 6 Misc 3d 853 [2004]; see also People v Morgan, 10 AD3d 369 [2004]).

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.
Decision Date: March 28, 2006