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DEFENDANT WAS ALONE IN HIS CAR ARGUING WITH SOMEONE ON HIS PHONE WHEN THE POLICE APPROACHED; THE POLICE DID NOT HAVE AN OBJECTIVE, CREDIBLE REASON FOR THE APPROACH; THE HANDGUN FOUND IN AN INVENTORY SEARCH SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing County Court and dismissing the indictment, determined the police officers did not have an objective credible reason for approaching defendant, who was in his car outside a nightclub just after the club closed. The defendant was arrested after a check on his license revealed it had been suspended. The handgun found in an inventory search of the car should have been suppressed:

… [D]efendant’s engagement in an argument on his cell phone while alone in his private vehicle — did not provide any apparent nexus to the drug and weapons crimes that police said were typically committed in the area, or give rise to any other objective reason to question his presence. Nothing about a driver’s conduct in arguing on a cell phone, without more, suggests criminal activity related to weapons or drugs … . A sole occupant of a private vehicle arguing with someone who is not present gives rise to no apparent reason for police to intervene, such as potential safety concerns … .

Thus, we find that police did not have the requisite objective, credible reason for approaching defendant’s vehicle in the first instance. The encounter was further invalid because police had no objective, credible reason to extend the initial conversation by running defendant’s driver’s license after he responded to their initial inquiry and provided the information they requested … . The officer gave no explanation for his decision to intrude further at that point, nor does the record reveal such an explanation. Nothing about the exchange with defendant gave rise to any reason to suspect that he was not telling the truth … . Defendant’s driver’s license did not appear to belong to someone else … or reveal anything unusual on its face … . Lacking an objective, credible reason that justified police in approaching defendant’s vehicle and making inquiries, the encounter was invalid at its inception … . People v Stover, 020 NY Slip Op 01676, Third Dept 3-12-20

 

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