Justice Genine Edwards
Ramirez was charged with criminal sale of marijuana and resisting arrest. He moved for dismissal of both counts arguing the accusatory instrument was facially insufficient. The complaint stated an officer observed separately-charged defendant, Alejo, give Ramirez money as part of an undercover officer’s transaction with Alejo for the sale of marijuana. A detective attempted to place Ramirez under arrest, but he ran away, and later refused to be handcuffed. Ramirez was charged with sale of marijuana under a theory that he acted in concert with Alejo. Yet, the court noted a person’s mere presence, even with an awareness of a crime occurring, was insufficient to establish accomplice liability. It stated simply accepting marijuana sale proceeds from a seller was not enough to hold Ramirez responsible for the sale as an accomplice to such sale. The court ruled the factual allegations in the information failed to establish Ramirez acted in concert with Alejo to sell marijuana to an undercover officer, granting dismissal of the sale charge. However, the resisting arrest count could stand alone as Ramirez’s sole charge even though the underlying sale of marijuana charge was dismissed as Ramirez’s arrest was authorized because it was premised on probable cause. Dismissal of that charge was denied.
