AT THE SUPPRESSION HEARING THE PEOPLE PRESENTED NO EVIDENCE OF THE LEGALITY OF THE VEHICLE STOP, CONSENT TO SEARCH THE CAR WAS THEREFORE DEEMED INVOLUNTARY AND THE SEIZED COCAINE SUPPRESSED.
The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the People did not come forward with proof demonstrating the legality of a vehicle stop. Defendant and the driver were the only persons in the car. A large amount of cocaine was seized from the back seat area. The driver purportedly consented to the search. However, because, at the suppression hearing, no proof of the legality of the stop was presented, the consent was deemed involuntary and the evidence suppressed:
We conclude that, “[b]ecause the People failed to present evidence at the suppression hearing establishing the legality of the police conduct, [the driver’s] purported consent to the search of his vehicle was involuntary[,] and all evidence seized from the vehicle as a result of that consent should have been suppressed” … . We therefore reverse the judgment, vacate the plea, grant defendant’s omnibus motion insofar as it sought suppression of the cocaine found in the vehicle, and remit the matter to Supreme Court for further proceedings on the indictment. People v Kendrick, 2017 NY Slip Op 00870, 4th Dept 2-3-17
CRIMINAL LAW (AT THE SUPPRESSION HEARING THE PEOPLE PRESENTED NO EVIDENCE OF THE LEGALITY OF THE VEHICLE STOP, CONSENT TO SEARCH THE CAR WAS THEREFORE DEEMED INVOLUNTARY AND THE SEIZED COCAINE SUPPRESSED)/SEARCH AND SEIZURE (AT THE SUPPRESSION HEARING THE PEOPLE PRESENTED NO EVIDENCE OF THE LEGALITY OF THE VEHICLE STOP, CONSENT TO SEARCH THE CAR WAS THEREFORE DEEMED INVOLUNTARY AND THE SEIZED COCAINE SUPPRESSED)/SUPPRESSION (AT THE SUPPRESSION HEARING THE PEOPLE PRESENTED NO EVIDENCE OF THE LEGALITY OF THE VEHICLE STOP, CONSENT TO SEARCH THE CAR WAS THEREFORE DEEMED INVOLUNTARY AND THE SEIZED COCAINE SUPPRESSED)/STREET STOPS (AT THE SUPPRESSION HEARING THE PEOPLE PRESENTED NO EVIDENCE OF THE LEGALITY OF THE VEHICLE STOP, CONSENT TO SEARCH THE CAR WAS THEREFORE DEEMED INVOLUNTARY AND THE SEIZED COCAINE SUPPRESSED)