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Appeals, Criminal Law

THE DEFENSE HAD SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCOVER THE JUDGE’S SENTENCE-PROMISE MISTAKE, THEREFORE THE PRESERVATION REQUIREMENT APPLIED TO DEFENDANT’S CHALLENGE TO THE VALIDITY OF HIS GUILTY PLEA.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Abdus-Salaam, over a two-judge dissenting opinion, reversing the Appellate Division, determined defendant’s failure to preserve his challenge to the validity of his guilty plea precluded review in the Court of Appeals. The matter was remitted to the Appellate Division which could entertain the appeal under its interest of justice jurisdiction. The opinion attempts to clarify when a defendant “lacks a reasonable opportunity to object to a fundamental defect in the plea” such that the preservation requirement does not apply. Here the sentencing court made an initial mistake indicating defendant’s sentence would be three years, where the minimum sentence was six years. Defendant argued that his guilty plea was induced by the judge’s mistake. The Court of Appeals found there were many subsequent opportunities to discover the mistake and preserve the error. The defendant violated the terms of his release pending sentencing, an Outley hearing was held, and a six-year sentence, described as an “enhanced sentence,” was ultimately imposed:

… [T]he defense had multiple opportunities to preserve defendant’s current challenge to his plea and seek clarification of the matter, as such opportunities arose from, inter alia: the court’s comment at the plea proceeding about its uncertainty of the legality of the promised sentencing options; the court’s statements at the plea proceeding about the determinative nature of defendant’s predicate felony offender status; the numerous adjournments, the Outley hearing and the post-hearing court appearance that transpired between the plea and sentencing proceedings, which could have allowed counsel and defendant to inquire further into the legality of the promised sentencing options and defendant’s understanding of the plea; and the court’s comments at sentencing, which offered an opening for counsel to confirm the legality of the court’s sentencing options and its effect on the validity of the plea. By failing to seize upon these opportunities to object or seek additional pertinent information, defense counsel failed to preserve defendant’s claim for appellate review … . People v Williams, 2016 NY Slip Op 02551, CtApp 4-5-16

CRIMINAL LAW (PRESERVATION OF ERROR, THE DEFENSE HAD SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCOVER THE JUDGE’S SENTENCE-PROMISE MISTAKE, THEREFORE THE PRESERVATION REQUIREMENT APPLIED TO DEFENDANT’S CHALLENGE TO THE VALIDITY OF HIS GUILTY PLEA)/APPEALS (PRESERVATION OF ERROR, THE DEFENSE HAD SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCOVER THE JUDGE’S SENTENCE-PROMISE MISTAKE, THEREFORE THE PRESERVATION REQUIREMENT APPLIED TO DEFENDANT’S CHALLENGE TO THE VALIDITY OF HIS GUILTY PLEA)/PLEA BARGAIN (PRESERVATION OF ERROR, THE DEFENSE HAD SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCOVER THE JUDGE’S SENTENCE-PROMISE MISTAKE, THEREFORE THE PRESERVATION REQUIREMENT APPLIED TO DEFENDANT’S CHALLENGE TO THE VALIDITY OF HIS GUILTY PLEA)/PRESERVATION OF ERROR (THE DEFENSE HAD SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCOVER THE JUDGE’S SENTENCE-PROMISE MISTAKE, THEREFORE THE PRESERVATION REQUIREMENT APPLIED TO DEFENDANT’S CHALLENGE TO THE VALIDITY OF HIS GUILTY PLEA)

April 5, 2016
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Criminal Law, Judges

TRIAL JUDGE GAVE TOO MUCH ADVICE TO THE PROSECUTOR ON THE ADMISSION AND USE OF EVIDENCE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED.

The Third Department reversed defendant's conviction because the trial judge gave excessive procedural advice to the prosecutor (ADA). During several sidebars, the judge explained to the ADA how to lay a proper foundation for the admission of evidence and how to use evidence to refresh a witness's recollection. The judge's well-intentioned assistance was deemed to have created the perception the prosecution received a tactical advantage:

During the course of the trial, the ADA in question demonstrated difficulty in laying the proper foundation for the admission into evidence of certain photographs and bank records and in utilizing a particular document to refresh a witness's recollection. In response, County Court conducted various sidebars, during the course of which the court, among other things, explained the nature of defense counsel's objections, outlined the questions that the ADA needed to ask of the testifying witnesses, referred the ADA to a certain evidentiary treatise and afforded him a recess in order to consult and review the appropriate section thereof. Without further belaboring the point, suffice it to say that our review of the record confirms what County Court itself acknowledged — namely, that in attempting to “explain[] some of the law” and in an effort to avoid portraying defense counsel as “obstructionist,” it “explained one thing too many, in all fairness.” As County Court's assistance in this regard — although well-intentioned — arguably created the perception that the People were receiving an unfair tactical advantage, we are persuaded that this matter should be remitted for a new trial … . People v Kocsis, 2016 NY Slip Op 02480, 3rd Dept 3-31-16

CRIMINAL LAW (TRIAL JUDGE GAVE TOO MUCH ADVICE TO THE PROSECUTOR ON THE ADMISSION AND USE OF EVIDENCE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED)/JUDGES (CRIMINAL LAW, TRIAL JUDGE GAVE TOO MUCH ADVICE TO THE PROSECUTOR ON THE ADMISSION AND USE OF EVIDENCE, NEW TRIAL ORDERED)

March 31, 2016
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Attorneys, Criminal Law, Evidence

DEFENSE COUNSEL’S DECISION TO FOREGO A REQUEST TO REOPEN THE SUPPRESSION HEARING BASED UPON TRIAL TESTIMONY WAS SUPPORTED BY A SOUND STRATEGIC REASON, COUNSEL WAS THEREFORE NOT INEFFECTIVE.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Abdus-Salaam, over an extensive two-judge dissenting opinion, determined defense counsel's failure to request the reopening of the suppression hearing based upon trial testimony did not constitute ineffective assistance. The Appellate Division had previously reversed the trial court's suppression of defendant's statements. At trial the detective who took the statements from the defendant gave an account which differed from the detective's hearing testimony. The inconsistent testimony related to the second of the two statements made by the defendant during interrogation. In response to defendant's motion to vacate the judgment of conviction on ineffective-assistance grounds, the People provided an affidavit from defense counsel which explained the strategy underlying the decision to forego a request to reopen the suppression hearing. “… Counsel averred that he had believed that defendant's second statement would almost certainly be admitted into evidence at trial and that therefore he had focused on using the exculpatory preface of the first statement to cast doubt on the probative worth of defendant's more incriminating subsequent comments.” The court found the explanation of the defense strategy to be sound:

Defense counsel did not deprive defendant of the effective assistance of counsel when he decided not to move to reopen the suppression hearing … . Because the Appellate Division had rejected counsel's original arguments for suppression of the [second] statement prior to trial and cited a number of factors that remained extant throughout the proceedings in this case, counsel reasonably thought that the statement would be admitted into evidence regardless of any new developments, and instead of making what he sensibly thought was a longshot motion to reopen the hearing, he decided to use the exculpatory portion of defendant's first statement to undermine the credibility of the second statement and place it in context. People v Gray, 2016 NY Slip Op 02476, CtApp 3-31-16

CRIMINAL LAW (DEFENSE COUNSEL'S DECISION TO FOREGO A REQUEST TO REOPEN THE SUPPRESSION HEARING BASED UPON TRIAL TESTIMONY WAS SUPPORTED BY A SOUND STRATEGIC REASON, COUNSEL WAS THEREFORE NOT INEFFECTIVE)/ATTORNEYS (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENSE COUNSEL'S DECISION TO FOREGO A REQUEST TO REOPEN THE SUPPRESSION HEARING BASED UPON TRIAL TESTIMONY WAS SUPPORTED BY A SOUND STRATEGIC REASON, COUNSEL WAS THEREFORE NOT INEFFECTIVE)/INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENSE COUNSEL'S DECISION TO FOREGO A REQUEST TO REOPEN THE SUPPRESSION HEARING BASED UPON TRIAL TESTIMONY WAS SUPPORTED BY A SOUND STRATEGIC REASON, COUNSEL WAS THEREFORE NOT INEFFECTIVE)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENSE COUNSEL'S DECISION TO FOREGO A REQUEST TO REOPEN THE SUPPRESSION HEARING BASED UPON TRIAL TESTIMONY WAS SUPPORTED BY A SOUND STRATEGIC REASON, COUNSEL WAS THEREFORE NOT INEFFECTIVE)

March 31, 2016
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Attorneys, Criminal Law, Evidence

FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS WEAPON CONSTITUTED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE.

The Court of Appeals determined defendant, who was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, was not afforded effective assistance of counsel in that defense counsel did not move to suppress the weapon. The matter was remitted for a suppression hearing. The underlying facts were not addressed in the decision. People v Bilal, 2016 NY Slip Op 02475, CtApp 3-31-16

CRIMINAL LAW (FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS WEAPON CONSTITUTED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS WEAPON CONSTITUTED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE)/ATTORNEYS (CRIMINAL LAW, FAILURE TO MOVE TO SUPPRESS WEAPON CONSTITUTED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE)

March 31, 2016
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Criminal Law

JUROR SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXCUSED FOR CAUSE, CONVICTION REVERSED.

The Second Department determined defendant's conviction must be reversed because the trial court should have granted defense counsel request to excuse a prospective juror for cause. The juror said she “didn't know” whether the sexual assault of her aunt would affect her ability to judge the sexual-offense case for which the jury was being selected:

Here, during voir dire, one prospective juror indicated that because her aunt had been the victim of a violent sexual assault, it would “be a little bit hard” for her to keep an open mind when listening to the facts of this case. When asked whether she could “give the defendant in this case a fair trial,” she responded, “I can manage. Yes.” When asked if it was possible that her judgment in this case might be affected by her aunt's case, she responded, “Might.” The Supreme Court also asked the prospective juror if the fact that this case did not involve a sex crime would “change things” for her, and she responded, “Part of it. Yeah.” The prospective juror confirmed that she would refrain from blaming the defendant for what happened to her aunt or favoring the prosecution for successfully prosecuting her aunt's assailant, but when asked again by defense counsel whether her aunt's experience “might affect [her] ability to judge this case,” the juror paused and finally said, “I don't know.” The court denied the defendant's challenge for cause to this prospective juror. The defense then exercised a peremptory challenge to remove her and exhausted all of its peremptory challenges prior to the end of jury selection.

At no point did the prospective juror unequivocally state that her prior state of mind would not influence her verdict, and that she would render an impartial verdict based solely on the evidence. Under the circumstances, the Supreme Court should have granted the defense's challenge for cause to this prospective juror … . People v Malloy, 2016 NY Slip Op 02380, 2nd Dept 3-30-16

CRIMINAL LAW (JUROR SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXCUSED FOR CAUSE, CONVICTION REVERSED)/JURORS (CRIMINAL LAW, JUROR SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXCUSED FOR CAUSE, CONVICTION REVERSED)FOR CAUSE JUROR CHALLENGE (JUROR SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXCUSED FOR CAUSE, CONVICTION REVERSED)

March 30, 2016
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Appeals, Criminal Law, Evidence

IT WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION, AS A MATTER OF LAW, TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OF THIRD-PARTY CULPABILITY IN THE FORM OF STATEMENTS AGAINST PENAL INTEREST.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Stein, over an extensive dissenting opinion by Judge Fahey, determined the defendant should have been allowed to submit evidence of third-party culpability and ordered a new trial in this felony murder/rape case. The majority acknowledged the evidence against defendant was overwhelming. However, the third-party culpability evidence—hearsay admissions about the crime allegedly made to the declarant's cellmate in prison—qualified as statements against penal interest. Applying a balancing test, the Court of Appeals concluded the probative value of the hearsay was such that it was an abuse of discretion, as a matter of law, to exclude it:

Where, as here, the defendant makes an offer of proof to the court explaining the basis for a third-party culpability defense and connecting the third-party to the crime, and the probative value of the evidence “plainly outweighs the dangers of delay, prejudice and confusion,” then it is “error as a matter of law” to preclude the defendant from presenting such proof to the jury… .People v DiPippo, 2016  NY Slip Op 02279, CtApp 3-29-16

CRIMINAL LAW (IT WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION, AS A MATTER OF LAW, TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OF THIRD-PARTY CULPABILITY IN THE FORM OF STATEMENTS AGAINST PENAL INTEREST)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, IT WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION, AS A MATTER OF LAW, TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OF THIRD-PARTY CULPABILITY IN THE FORM OF STATEMENTS AGAINST PENAL INTEREST)/HEARSAY (CRIMINAL LAW, IT WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION, AS A MATTER OF LAW, TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OF THIRD-PARTY CULPABILITY IN THE FORM OF STATEMENTS AGAINST PENAL INTEREST)/STATEMENT AGAINST PENAL INTEREST  (CRIMINAL LAW, IT WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION, AS A MATTER OF LAW, TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OF THIRD-PARTY CULPABILITY IN THE FORM OF STATEMENTS AGAINST PENAL INTEREST)/THIRD-PARTY CULPABILITY (CRIMINAL LAW, IT WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION, AS A MATTER OF LAW, TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OF THIRD-PARTY CULPABILITY IN THE FORM OF STATEMENTS AGAINST PENAL INTEREST)

March 29, 2016
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Criminal Law, Evidence

PEOPLE DID NOT DELIBERATELY CALL WITNESS FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ELICITING THE ASSERTION OF THE PRIVILEGE AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION; PEOPLE’S OWN WITNESS PROPERLY IMPEACHED WITH PRIOR STATEMENT; EXPERT TESTIMONY ON EFFECT OF EVENT STRESS ON IDENTIFICATION PROPERLY PRECLUDED.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Pigott, determined (1) the People did not improperly call an eyewitness to the shooting to invoke his privilege against self-incrimination in front of the jury; (2) the People were properly allowed to impeach the eyewitness with his statement made to police at the time of the incident; and (3) expert testimony offered by the defense on the effect of “event stress” on the identification of the defendant was properly precluded. A Frye hearing was not required before preclusion. The expert witness was allowed to testify about “weapon focus” and “witness confidence.” With respect to a witness' invocation of the privilege against self-incrimination in front of the jury, the court explained the analytical criteria:

The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution directs that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself” (US Const Amend V). When a witness invokes the Fifth Amendment privilege in front of the jury, “the effect of the powerful but improper inference of what the witness might have said absent the claim of privilege can neither be quantified nor tested by cross-examination, imperiling the defendant's right to a fair trial” … . It is therefore reversible error for the trial court to permit the prosecutor to deliberately call a witness for the sole purpose of eliciting a claim of privilege … . The critical inquiry is whether the prosecution exploited the witness's invocation of the privilege, either by attempting “to build its case on inferences drawn from the witness's assertion of the privilege” or utilizing those inferences to “unfairly prejudice [the] defendant by adding 'critical weight' to the prosecution's case in a form not subject to cross-examination” … . People v Berry, 2016 NY Slip Op 02283, CtApp 3-29-16

CRIMINAL LAW (PEOPLE DID NOT DELIBERATELY CALL WITNESS FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ELICITING THE ASSERTION OF THE PRIVILEGE AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION)/CRIMINAL LAW (PEOPLE'S OWN WITNESS PROPERLY IMPEACHED WITH PRIOR STATEMENT)/CRIMINAL LAW (EXPERT TESTIMONY ON EFFECT OF EVENT STRESS ON IDENTIFICATION PROPERLY PRECLUDED)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, PEOPLE DID NOT DELIBERATELY CALL WITNESS FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF ELICITING THE ASSERTION OF THE PRIVILEGE AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, PEOPLE'S OWN WITNESS PROPERLY IMPEACHED WITH PRIOR STATEMENT)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, EXPERT TESTIMONY ON EFFECT OF EVENT STRESS ON IDENTIFICATION PROPERLY PRECLUDED)/IDENTIFICATION (CRIMINAL LAW, EXPERT TESTIMONY ON EFFECT OF EVENT STRESS ON IDENTIFICATION PROPERLY PRECLUDED)

March 29, 2016
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Criminal Law, Evidence

REDACTED STATEMENT OF CO-DEFENDANT IMPLICATED DEFENDANT IN VIOLATION OF BRUTON RULE, CONVICTION REVERSED.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Stein, over a two-judge dissenting opinion, determined the redacted statement of a co-defendant (Villanueva), in its written form, left no doubt that the statement implicated defendant in this gang-assault murder case.  The error was not harmless and defendant's conviction was therefore reversed:

… [T]he written statement was not “effectively redacted so that the jury would not interpret its admissions as incriminating the nonconfessing defendant[s]” … . Rather, the statement, with large, “blank [spaces] prominent on its face, . . . 'facially incriminat[ed]'” a codefendant because it “involve[d] inferences that a jury ordinarily could make immediately, even were the confession the very first item introduced at trial” … . Any juror “wonder[ing] to whom the blank might refer need[ed] only lift his [or her] eyes to [Villanueva's codefendants], sitting at counsel table, to find what [would] seem the obvious answer” … . In our view, the replacement of the identifying descriptors of defendant with blank spaces did not leave “the slightest doubt as to whose name[] had been blacked out, but even if there had been, that blacking out itself would have not only laid the doubt but underscored the answer” … , particularly after the court instructed the jury that it was not to speculate about the redactions in any way. The redacted statement both “indicat[ed] to the jury that the original statement contained actual names” or clearly identifying descriptors and, “even if the very first item introduced at trial[,] [it] would immediately inculpate [a codefendant] in the charged crime”  … . Therefore, we conclude that its admission violated the Bruton rule. People v Cedeno, 2016 NY Slip Op 02281, CtApp 3-29-16

Similar issue and result in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Rivera, over a three-judge dissenting opinion— People v Johnson, 2016 NY Slip Op 02282, CtApp 3-29-16

CRIMINAL LAW (REDACTED STATEMENT OF CO-DEFENDANT IMPLICATED DEFENDANT IN VIOLATION OF BRUTON RULE, CONVICTION REVERSED)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, REDACTED STATEMENT OF CO-DEFENDANT IMPLICATED DEFENDANT IN VIOLATION OF BRUTON RULE, CONVICTION REVERSED)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, REDACTED STATEMENT OF CO-DEFENDANT IMPLICATED DEFENDANT IN VIOLATION OF BRUTON RULE, CONVICTION REVERSED)/BRUTON RULE (CRIMINAL LAW, REDACTED STATEMENT OF CO-DEFENDANT IMPLICATED DEFENDANT IN VIOLATION OF BRUTON RULE, CONVICTION REVERSED)

March 29, 2016
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Appeals, Attorneys, Criminal Law

PROCEDURE USED TO EXCUSE PROSPECTIVE JURORS ON HARDSHIP GROUNDS WAS NOT A MODE OF PROCEEDINGS ERROR; FAILURE TO OBJECT TO PROSECUTOR’S APPEAL TO GENDER BIAS DID NOT CONSTITUTE INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Pigott, over an extensive dissenting opinion by Judge Rivera, determined the procedure used by the trial judge to excuse prospective jurors on hardship grounds was not a mode of proceedings error warranting reversal in the absence of preservation. At the outset of jury selection, the judge told the prospective jurors the trial might take five days. Anyone who felt they could not sit for five days was then allowed to leave the courtroom with the clerk who would evaluate the extent of the hardship.  The Court of Appeals held the hardship questioning occurred prior to formal voir dire and did not concern a prospective juror's fitness to serve, thereby distinguishing cases where the judge was absent during formal voir dire. The Court of Appeals further determined defense counsel's failure to object to the prosecutor's remarks in summation which appealed to gender bias did not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. The defendant in this assault /burglary case was a woman, as was the victim. The victim's boyfriend was the father of defendant's children. To counter the defendant's argument that the attacker was a male, the prosecutor told the jury the case was about “jealousy” and “obsession” and “only a woman” would inflict “this kind of injury.” With respect to the juror-hardship issue, the court explained:

Preservation is particularly important in a case like this because the defense, faced with the prospect that certain prospective jurors were claiming that they were unable to serve due to hardship, may very well have made a strategic decision not to challenge the procedure because he did not want to risk having those prospective jurors end up on the jury when it became apparent that they did not wish to serve. If defense counsel had an objection to the procedure employed by the trial court, he should have voiced it so that the court could have corrected any alleged error. People v King, 2016 NY Slip Op 02278, CtApp 3-29-16

CRIMINAL LAW (ALLOWING CLERK TO EVALUATE JURORS' REQUESTS TO BE EXCUSED ON HARDSHIP GROUNDS WAS NOT A MODE OF PROCEEDINGS ERROR)/APPEALS (CRIMINAL LAW, ALLOWING CLERK TO EVALUATE JURORS' REQUEST TO BE EXCUSED FROM SITTING ON HARDSHIP GROUNDS WAS NOT A MODE OF PROCEEDINGS ERROR)/ATTORNEYS (FAILURE TO OBJECT TO PROSECUTOR'S APPEAL TO GENDER BIAS DID NOT CONSTITUTE INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE)/INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL (FAILURE TO OBJECT TO PROSECUTOR'S APPEAL TO GENDER BIAS DID NOT CONSTITUTE INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE)

March 29, 2016
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Appeals, Criminal Law, Evidence

SEIZURE OF COCAINE WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY ATTENUATED FROM ILLEGAL DETENTION, SUPPRESSION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED; RULING THAT DETENTION WAS ILLEGAL WAS NOT ADVERSE TO THE DEFENDANT AND THEREFORE COULD NOT BE RECONSIDERED ON APPEAL.

The Fourth Department determined cocaine found on defendant's person in a strip search should have been suppressed. Defendant was stopped on the street after the police saw an exchange between defendant and a woman. The defendant was patted down with his consent but nothing was found. The defendant was then placed in the back of a police car uncuffed. When the police questioned the woman, she told them defendant had cocaine between his buttocks, where it was eventually found. The trial court found defendant had been illegally detained but did not suppress. The court noted that, because the illegal detention finding was not adverse to the defendant, the court could not consider the issue on appeal. Therefore, the People's argument that the police actions were proper from the outset could not be entertained. The court concluded the seizure of the cocaine was not sufficiently attenuated from the illegal detention:

As a preliminary matter, we note that, “[s]ince we are reviewing a judgment on the defendant's appeal, and the issue of whether the defendant was [unlawfully detained] was not decided adversely to him, we are jurisdictionally barred from considering” the People's contention that the police officers' encounter with defendant was lawful at its inception and at every stage thereafter … .

We agree with defendant that the court erred in determining that the seizure of evidence from his person was attenuated from the taint of the illegality … . “While the effect of illegally initiated police intrusion may potentially become attenuated, as a practical matter there is rarely opportunity for the attenuation of primary official illegality in the context of brief, rapidly unfolding street or roadside encounters predicated on less than probable cause . . . [O]nce a wrongful police-initiated intrusion is established, suppression of closely after-acquired evidence appears to follow ineluctably” … . People v King, 2016 NY Slip Op 02264, 4th Dept 3-25-16

CRIMINAL LAW (SEIZURE OF COCAINE WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY ATTENUATED FROM ILLEGAL DETENTION, SUPPRESSION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)/EVIDENCE (SEIZURE OF COCAINE WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY ATTENUATED FROM ILLEGAL DETENTION, SUPPRESSION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)/SUPPRESSION (SEIZURE OF COCAINE WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY ATTENUATED FROM ILLEGAL DETENTION, SUPPRESSION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)/SEARCHES AND SEIZURES (SEIZURE OF COCAINE WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY ATTENUATED FROM ILLEGAL DETENTION, SUPPRESSION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)/STREET STOPS (SEIZURE OF COCAINE WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY ATTENUATED FROM ILLEGAL DETENTION, SUPPRESSION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED)/APPEALS (CRIMINAL LAW, RULING THAT DETENTION WAS ILLEGAL WAS NOT ADVERSE TO THE DEFENDANT AND THEREFORE COULD NOT BE RECONSIDERED ON APPEAL)

March 25, 2016
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