People v. James

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Daniel P. FitzGerald, J.), rendered April 13, 2012, 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 drug offender, to an aggregate term of eight years, unanimously modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, to the extent of reducing the prison term for the conviction for third-degree possession to six years, resulting in a new aggregate term of six years, and otherwise affirmed.

We find that the Allen charge, read as a whole, was balanced and not coercive (see People v Pagan, 45 NY2d 725, 727 [1978]). The court encouraged the jurors to reach a verdict if possible, while reminding them not to give up their conscientiously held positions. Concur — Sweeny, J.P., Renwick, Manzanet-Daniels and Gische, JJ.