FOR CAUSE CHALLENGE TO A JUROR WHO FELT POLICE OFFICERS WOULD NOT LIE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED; STATEMENTS MADE UNDER CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION IN DEFENDANT’S HOME SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED; STATEMENTS MADE AFTER DEFENDANT INVOKED HIS RIGHT TO COUNSEL SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction and granting a new trial, determined that a defense for-cause challenge to a juror should have been granted, unwarned statements made by the defendant in his home were in response to custodial interrogation, and the statements made at the police station were made after defendant had invoked his right to counsel:
… [B]y repeatedly insisting that police officers were unlikely to lie under oath because doing so would endanger their pensions, the prospective juror “cast serious doubt on [her] ability to render a fair verdict under the proper legal standards” and to follow the court’s instructions concerning, at a minimum, issues of witness credibility … . The court was therefore “required to elicit some unequivocal assurance from the . . . prospective juror[] that [she was] able to reach a verdict based entirely upon the court’s instructions on the law” … . No such assurances were obtained from the prospective juror, …
… [I]t is undisputed that defendant was ordered out of his bedroom by police officers in the middle of the night, directed to remain in a vestibule outside his apartment, and thereafter subjected to pointed, accusatory questions for about an hour. Under those circumstances, we agree with defendant that a reasonable person, innocent of any crime, would not have felt free to leave, and that he was thus in custody during the questioning … . …
… [D]efendant unequivocally invoked his right to counsel by stating “I think I will take the lawyer” or “I think I need a lawyer” … . Thus, we agree with defendant that his statements following his unequivocal invocation of his right to counsel at the police station should have been suppressed as well … . People v Hernandez, 2019 NY Slip Op 05844, Fourth Dept 7-31-19