People v. Legett

In People v. Legett, 140 A.D.2d 1 (1st Dept 1988), the First Department held that the common-law defense of innocent possession was required, even where it was not requested, where defendant's testimony presented evidence of (1) disarming the aggressor of a package with which the aggressor threatened the defendant, and (2) surrendering the contents of the package to the police almost immediately. It should be noted that the dissent points to the fact that the defendant testified that he may have possessed the gun for up to three hours before the police arrived ( id., 5 [Asch, J., dissenting]).