You are here: / / CITIZEN INFORMANT WHO WALKED INTO THE POLICE STATION PROVIDED SUFFICIENT...
,

CITIZEN INFORMANT WHO WALKED INTO THE POLICE STATION PROVIDED SUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO JUSTIFY APPROACHING A VAN IN WHICH DEFENDANT WAS SLEEPING, LEADING TO DEFENDANT’S ARREST; A TWO-JUSTICE DISSENT ARGUED THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW WITH THE INFORMANT DID NOT PROVIDE THE POLICE WITH REASONABLE SUSPICION (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, over a two-justice dissent, determined the police, after interviewing a citizen informant who walked into the police station, had reasonable suspicion to approach a van in which the defendant was sleeping. Thereafter the police were justified in asking the defendant to step out of the van for safety reasons and in arresting the defendant when an officer saw a handgun in defendant’s waistband. The dissent argued the informant (who identified himself to the police but was not identified to the defendant) did not provide sufficiently detailed information to justify approaching the van:

…[T]he testimony of a police officer during the suppression hearing established that a citizen informant walked into a police station at 4:30 a.m. and reported that two men had “ripped him off” during “a drug deal gone wrong.” The informant, who identified himself by name to the officer but whose identity was not disclosed to defendant, appeared to be angry and upset and did not seem to be intoxicated. The informant alleged, inter alia, that the two men were in a purple minivan at a specific address on Stevens Street in the City of Buffalo, and that “there were drugs in the vehicle” and one of the men “was holding [a] handgun in his lap.” The police officer interviewed the informant for 10 to 15 minutes, during which time the officer had an opportunity to evaluate his reliability on the basis of his appearance and demeanor … . The informant’s reliability was enhanced because he identified himself to the officer and reported that he had attempted to take part in a drug transaction, thus making a declaration against penal interest and subjecting himself to potential prosecution for his own criminal activity … . The informant also waited at the police station while officers investigated the allegations, thereby subjecting himself to “the criminal sanctions attendant upon falsely reporting information to the authorities” … . Thus, we conclude that the People established the reliability of the informant by establishing that the officer obtained information from him during a face-to-face encounter … , and that information did not constitute an anonymous tip … .

From the dissent:

… [A]lthough the majority relies on the ability of the police “to evaluate [the] reliability [of the informant]” during face-to-face contact … , the testimony of the police officer who met the informant reveals that the officer lacked sufficient information to make such an evaluation. The officer believed that the informant appeared agitated, and conceded that he did not know whether the informant was sober. The informant offered the officer no description of the men who purportedly “ripped him off” or how the alleged drug deal had gone wrong, and the officer testified that he never even asked the informant when that incident took place. Instead, the informant offered no more than the description of the outside of a vehicle … . People v Edwards, 2020 NY Slip Op 05672, Fourth Dept 10-9-20

 

You might also like
THE MAJORITY CONCLUDED PLAINTIFF WAS ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS FATAL VEHICLE-PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT CASE BECAUSE DECEDENT’S ALLEGED CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE DOES NOT BAR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; THE DISSENT ARGUED THERE WAS A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER DECEDENT’S NEGLIGENCE WAS THE SOLE PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT (FOURTH DEPT).
Termination for Insubordination Proper
DUE TO NEGLIGENCE BY A TIRE SHOP WHICH CONCEDED LIABILITY, A WHEEL FLEW OFF DEFENDANT’S CAR AND STRUCK PLAINTIFF’S CAR, DEFENDANT-DRIVER’S CROSS MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROPERLY DENIED.
REQUEST FOR AN ADJOURNMENT IN THIS FAMILY OFFENSE PROCEEDING SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED.
SORA RISK ASSESSMENT REDUCED TO LEVEL ONE, NO PROOF AGE OF CHILDREN DEPICTED IN PORNOGRAPHY WAS LESS THAN TEN (FOURTH DEPT
IN THIS PARTITION ACTION, THERE WAS NO PENDING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND THERE WAS NO INDICATION THE PARTIES HAD LAID THEIR PROOF BARE SUCH THAT THE COURT COULD CONSIDER GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT; SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AWARDED (FOURTH DEPT). ​
DEFENDANT WAS CONVICTED OF FELONY MURDER, TWO COUNTS OF ROBBERY AND CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON BASED PRIMARILY ON HIS CONFESSION; THE ROBBERY CONVICTIONS WERE AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE; THE JUDGE DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED MINIMAL INQUIRY WHEN DEFENDANT REQUESTED NEW COUNSEL; COUNSEL WERE INEFFECTIVE FOR FAILING TO REQUEST THE REDACTION OF DEFENDANT’S VIDEO STATEMENT; NEW TRIAL ORDERED ON THE FELONY MURDER AND CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON COUNTS (FOURTH DEPT).
THE TRANSCRIBED RECORD IS WOEFULLY INCOMPLETE; DEFENDANT DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THE RECORD COULD NOT BE RECONSTRUCTED; MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT).

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 © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

DEFENDANT SCHOOL DISTRICT DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THE APPLICABILITY OF THE STORM-IN-PROGRESS... IN THIS DEFICIENCY JUDGMENT ACTION, THE PLAINTIFF DID NOT PRESENT SUFFICIENT...