THE POLICE OFFICERS DID NOT HAVE AN OBJECTIVE, CREDIBLE REASON TO APPROACH DEFENDANT AND REQUEST INFORMATION; THE MOTION TO SUPPRESS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, over a two-justice dissent, determined defendant’s motion to suppress should have been granted in this street stop case. The police officers’ observations of defendant, pursuant to the DeBour criteria, did not justify approaching him and asking whether a bag on the counter in a store belonged to him. There was a gun in the bag:

At the suppression hearing, one of the officers testified that as his vehicle was approaching a red traffic signal at the intersection, the defendant “tensed up” or “stiffened up” and, after making eye contact with the officer through the front windshield, the defendant’s “eyes widened” and the defendant walked into the corner store. The officer continued to observe the defendant through the store’s window, but did not have a full view of him. The officer saw the defendant do “a little pacing back and forth” and then come back outside. When the traffic signal turned green, the officer and his partner pulled over and exited their vehicle. * * *

… [T]he officer who testified at the suppression hearing failed to articulate any reason for approaching the defendant, other than that he appeared nervous and the officer wanted to “see why he went into the store.” This, standing alone, did not provide an objective, credible reason for the officers to approach the defendant and request information … .

… [E]ven assuming, arguendo, that the arresting officers had an objective, credible reason for approaching the defendant, they had no basis for immediately engaging the defendant in a pointed inquiry regarding the ownership and contents of the bag inside the store … . People v Brown, 2021 NY Slip Op 05579, Second Dept 10-13-21