You are here: / / UNVERIFIED CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION IN A SPRINT BUSINESS RECORD...
,

UNVERIFIED CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION IN A SPRINT BUSINESS RECORD WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ADMITTED FOR ITS TRUTH, RATHER IT WAS ADMITTED AS A PIECE OF A PUZZLE LINKING THE CELL PHONE TO THE DEFENDANT, WHO WAS OTHERWISE LINKED TO THE ROBBERY.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Stein, determined cell phone subscriber information contained within a Sprint business record was properly admitted, even though the subscriber information was not verified by Sprint. The subscriber information was not admitted for its truth, but rather as a piece of a puzzle which connected the cell phone to the defendant, Darnell Patterson. An accomplice in the charged robbery, who had been invited into the apartment which was subsequently robbed, received a call from the subject cell phone shortly before masked robbers arrived at the apartment:

… [T]he purpose of the subscriber information was not to prove that “Darnell Patterson,” or even defendant, had activated the prepaid Sprint account, but to show that the account had some connection to defendant — regardless of how tenuous — because such a connection would be helpful to the jury in assessing the reliability of the victim’s identification of defendant as the perpetrator. The evidence was ultimately relevant to the People’s argument to the jury that it was not coincidental that someone — regardless of who — provided pedigree information associated with defendant in activating the cell phone. Under the circumstances of this case, the subscriber information was not admitted for its truth, but for the jury to consider as a piece of the puzzle — along with evidence that the prepaid Sprint account called the same numbers that defendant did in prison, that the date of birth given by defendant when arrested matched that in the subscriber information, that the address given in the subscriber information was associated with defendant in police databases, and that defendant had the name Darnell tattooed on his hand — that gave rise to an inference that defendant was the user of the phone, although perhaps not the subscriber, a subtle but critical distinction for purposes of the evidentiary issue before us. People v Patterson, 2016 NY Slip Op 08582,, CtApp 12-22-16

CRIMINAL LAW (UNVERIFIED CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION IN A SPRINT BUSINESS RECORD WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ADMITTED FOR ITS TRUTH, RATHER IT WAS ADMITTED AS A PIECE OF A PUZZLE LINKING THE CELL PHONE TO THE DEFENDANT, WHO WAS OTHERWISE LINKED TO THE ROBBERY)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, UNVERIFIED CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION IN A SPRINT BUSINESS RECORD WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ADMITTED FOR ITS TRUTH, RATHER IT WAS ADMITTED AS A PIECE OF A PUZZLE LINKING THE CELL PHONE TO THE DEFENDANT, WHO WAS OTHERWISE LINKED TO THE ROBBERY)/BUSINESS RECORDS EXCEPTION TO HEARSAY RULE (CRIMINAL LAW, UNVERIFIED CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION IN A SPRINT BUSINESS RECORD WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ADMITTED FOR ITS TRUTH, RATHER IT WAS ADMITTED AS A PIECE OF A PUZZLE LINKING THE CELL PHONE TO THE DEFENDANT, WHO WAS OTHERWISE LINKED TO THE ROBBERY)/HEARSAY (CRIMINAL LAW, UNVERIFIED CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION IN A SPRINT BUSINESS RECORD WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ADMITTED FOR ITS TRUTH, RATHER IT WAS ADMITTED AS A PIECE OF A PUZZLE LINKING THE CELL PHONE TO THE DEFENDANT, WHO WAS OTHERWISE LINKED TO THE ROBBERY)/CELL PHONE RECORDS  (CRIMINAL LAW, UNVERIFIED CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION IN A SPRINT BUSINESS RECORD WAS PROPERLY ADMITTED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT ADMITTED FOR ITS TRUTH, RATHER IT WAS ADMITTED AS A PIECE OF A PUZZLE LINKING THE CELL PHONE TO THE DEFENDANT, WHO WAS OTHERWISE LINKED TO THE ROBBERY)

You might also like
NYC ZONING ORDINANCES CONCERNING ADULT BOOKSTORES AND CLUBS ARE CONSTITUTIONAL AND ENFORCEABLE.
SANCTIONS FOR NEGLIGENT SPOLIATION OF EVIDENCE REQUIRE A SHOWING OF THE RELEVANCE OF THE LOST EVIDENCE; AN ADVERSE INFERENCE JURY INSTRUCTION MAY BE APPROPRIATE FOR NEGLIGENT SPOLIATION.
VALIDITY OF STREET STOPS PRESENTS A MIXED QUESTION OF LAW AND FACT WHICH THE COURT OF APPEALS CAN REVIEW ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF WHETHER THE LOWER COURT RULING HAS SUPPORT IN THE RECORD, HERE THE RECORD SUPPORTED THE VALIDITY OF THE STOPS UNDER DE BOUR, TRIAL COURT’S FAILURE TO CREATE A RECORD CONCERNING TWO JURY NOTES REQUIRED REVERSAL HOWEVER (CT APP).
THE FOIL REQUIREMENT THAT THE REQUESTED DOCUMENTS BE “REASONABLY DESCRIBED” IS DISTINCT FROM THE ABILITY TO RETRIEVE THE DOCUMENTS WITH “REASONABLE EFFORT;” THE TWO STANDARDS SHOULD NOT BE CONFLATED; HERE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S PROFESSED INABILTY TO RETRIEVE THE REQUESTED DOCUMENTS DOES NOT DETERMINE WHETHER THE REQUESTED DOCUMENTS WERE “REASONABLY DESCRIBED;” MATTER REMANDED (CT APP).
DEFENDANT DID NOT DEMONSTRATE AS A MATTER OF LAW THAT COKE OVENS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL WERE NOT PRODUCTS TRIGGERING THE DUTY TO WARN OF THE HAZARDS OF BREATHING EMISSIONS FROM THE OVENS, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (CT APP).
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE OF HOW THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED IN THIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) ACTION, DISCOVERY MAY AID THE INQUIRY, SUMMARY JUDGMENT AWARD WAS PREMATURE (CT APP).
EVEN WHERE IT IS POSSIBLE DEFENDANT LACKS THE CAPACITY TO UNDERSTAND THE SORA RISK-LEVEL PROCEEDINGS, THE RISK-LEVEL ASSESSMENT CAN BE MADE WITHOUT AN INDEPENDANT ASSESSMENT OF DEFENDANT’S MENTAL CAPACITY (CT APP).
THE ACT OF SIMPLE POSSESSSION OF A WEAPON WAS COMPLETE BEFORE THE WEAPON WAS USED TO SHOOT THE VICTIM DURING A ROBBERY; THEREFORE, DESPITE THE OVERLAP OF THE ELEMENTS OF SIMPLE POSSESSION OF A WEAPON AND THE ELEMENTS OF FELONY MURDER AND ROBBERY, CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES WERE PROPERLY IMPOSED (CT APP).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

AFTER THE SENTENCE WAS OVERTURNED ON APPEAL BECAUSE THE JUDGE CONSIDERED EVIDENCE... PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING WHETHER RESPONDENT HAS BEEN PREJUDICED BY PETITIONER’S...