No Requirement that Defendant Submit Affidavit in Support of Suppression Motion; No Requirement Defendant Deny Commission of Charged Offense to Warrant a Hearing on a Suppression Motion

Although the denial of defendant’s suppression motion was affirmed, the Fourth Department noted the trial court erred when it stated the suppression motion must be supported by an affidavit from the defendant and the defendant must deny participation in the alleged crime to warrant a hearing:

We agree with defendant that the court erred in ruling that defendant, in order to be entitled to a suppression hearing, was required to submit an affidavit in support of her motion.  As the Court of Appeals has stated, “suppression motions must be in writing, state the legal ground of the motion and ‘contain sworn allegations of fact,’ made by defendant or ‘another person’ ” … . .  A suppression motion may be based on factual allegations made upon information and belief by defense counsel, provided that, as here, the sources of the attorney’s information and the grounds of his or her belief are identified in the motion papers (see CPL 710.60 [1]).  The court also erred in suggesting that defendant was required to deny participation in the crime.  It is well settled that a defendant must either “deny participating in the transaction or suggest some other grounds for suppression” in order to warrant a suppression hearing… . People v Battle, 926, 4th Dept 9-27-13