NY · jury_instructions
CJI2d[NY] Penal Law § 178.15 (2)
CRIMINAL DIVERSION OF PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS AND PRESCRIPTIONS IN THE THIRD DEGREE (previous fourth degree conviction)
No charge has been prepared for this offense, which elevates the crime of fourth degree “criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions” under Penal Law § 178.10 to the third-degree felony when the defendant "has previously been convicted of the crime of criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions in the fourth degree.”
When the third degree crime is charged, the prior conviction element must be charged in a special information, and after the commencement of trial the defendant must be arraigned on the special information. If, upon such arraignment, the defendant admits the element, the court must not make any reference to it in the definition of the offense or in listing the elements of the offense.¹
If the defendant denies the element or remains mute, the court should use the charge for Criminal Diversion of Prescription Medications and Prescriptions in the Fourth Degree under Penal Law § 178.10 and add the following as element number 4:
4. That the defendant had previously been convicted of the crime of criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions in the fourth degree.
History
Caption: CRIMINAL DIVERSION OF PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS AND PRESCRIPTIONS IN THE THIRD DEGREE (previous fourth degree conviction) Penal Law § 178.15 (2) Committed on or after Nov. 1, 1995. Read from the committee's Word file. Prepared by the New York State Unified Court System Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions, Model Colloquies, and Evidence Rules; published by the Unified Court System at nycourts.gov (the internet edition is the only current and official publication of CJI2d).
Provenance
- Source
- nycourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-25
- Content hash
619ec8ec64d2c0cd4473c815b64028f829be90f85308597cec239b96ad8fd1d1
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