In People v. Ballard , Tyrone Ballard faced charges of "criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree and unlawful possession of marijuana."
To be guilty of that first crime, one must "knowingly and unlawfully possess" the drug in an amount weighing "five hundred milligrams or more." Ballard argued that since he didn't know the weight of the cocaine he was carrying, he didn't "knowingly possess" the drug and therefore couldn't be found guilty. He also asserted prejudice by the court's replacement of a sick juror with "an alternate."
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department, determined the term "knowingly" in New York's Penal Law "applies only to the possession element of the crime, and not to the weight element." It further determined the lower court acted "providently" when it replaced the juror, "after a reasonably thorough inquiry" as to that individual's availability.
Replacing a juror with an alternate wasn't impermissible as "'there is no material distinction between regular and alternate jurors' prior to deliberations."
Looks like the AD2 wasn't giving Ballad's arguments much weight.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Ballard