PEOPLE v. BERRIER

The trial court correctly charged that in order to convict defendant of possessing a gravity knife, the prosecution had to prove that defendant knew he had a knife in his possession, not that he knew it was specifically a gravity knife, and that the knife fit the legal description of a gravity knife under Penal Law § 265.00 (5). Knowledge that the thing possessed answers the description of one of the prohibited instruments is not an element of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon (Penal Law § 265.02; People v Visarities, 220 App. Div. 657, 658, citing People v Persce, 204 N.Y. 397; see also, People v Ansare, 96 A.D.2d 96, 97).

Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Wallach, Rubin, Kupferman and Mazzarelli, JJ.