Justia New York Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

In 2017, two police officers observed Devon T. Butler, the appellant, engage in what they believed was a hand-to-hand drug transaction. After observing Butler fail to stop at a stop sign, the officers initiated a traffic stop. When Butler stepped out of his vehicle, the officers noticed a bulge in his pants, which Butler claimed was $1,000 in cash. When Butler refused the officers' request to search his vehicle, an officer used a Belgian Malinois, a narcotics-detection dog, to sniff-test the vehicle for drugs. The canine sniffed Butler's body, indicated the presence of narcotics, and the officers arrested Butler after a pursuit. The officers found a bag containing 76 glassine envelopes of heroin, which Butler admitted belonged to him. Butler moved to suppress evidence of the drugs, arguing that the officers' use of the canine to search his vehicle and person was unlawful. Following a hearing, the County Court denied the motion.On December 19, 2023, the New York Court of Appeals held that the use of a narcotics-detection dog to sniff a defendant's body for evidence of a crime is considered a search and thus falls under the protections of the Fourth Amendment. The court reversed the lower court's decision and remitted the case back to the County Court for further proceedings. The court ruled that the Appellate Division erred in affirming the judgement based on a ground not decided adversely to the defendant by the suppression court. The court also expressed uncertainty on whether the County Court's conclusion that the defendant "abandoned" the narcotics was based on its holding that the canine sniff was not a search and was "perfectly acceptable." As a result, the case was remitted back to the County Court for further proceedings and consideration of whether the abandonment of narcotics was lawful or unlawful. View "People v Butler" on Justia Law

In 2021, Michael Bay was arrested for alleged harassment of his mother. After the prosecution filed a certificate of compliance (COC) indicating readiness for trial, the defense discovered that the prosecution had not provided all required discovery materials. The defense argued that the prosecution's readiness statement was illusory due to the belated disclosure. On appeal, the Court of Appeals of New York held that since the prosecution failed to show they had exercised due diligence and made reasonable efforts to identify mandatory discovery before filing the COC, the COC was not proper when filed, and the prosecution's declaration of trial readiness was therefore illusory. Consequently, the court reversed the County Court order, granted the defendant's motion for dismissal based on speedy trial rules, and dismissed the accusatory instrument. View "People v Bay" on Justia Law

In a criminal matter, the Court of Appeals of New York held that when the prosecution calls a witness who may make a first-time, in-court identification of the defendant, they must ensure that the defendant is aware of that possibility as early as practicable. This is to provide the defendant with a meaningful opportunity to request alternative identification procedures. If the defendant explicitly requests such procedures, a trial court may exercise its discretion to fashion any measures necessary to reduce the risk of misidentification. The ultimate determination of whether to admit a first-time, in-court identification, like any evidence, rests within the evidentiary gatekeeping discretion of the trial court. The court must balance the probative value of the identification against the dangers of misidentification and other prejudice to the defendant.In this case, the defendant shot the victim in the leg during a house party. A neighbor, the witness at issue in this case, called 911 to report the shooting and provided a description of the shooter. No pretrial identification procedure was conducted with this witness. At trial, the victim and the neighbor identified the defendant as the shooter. The defendant objected to the neighbor's identification, arguing that the identification procedure was suggestive because there was only one person sitting in the courtroom who could possibly be the suspect. The court denied the defendant's request to preclude the neighbor's identification. The jury convicted the defendant of all charges and the Appellate Division affirmed the judgment. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision, stating that the defendant was aware from pre-trial discovery that the witness might make a first-time, in-court identification and only sought preclusion of the identification. The court found that the witness's testimony and pretrial statements established the reliability of her first-time, in-court identification, and the lack of formal notice did not significantly prejudice the defendant. Therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's request to preclude it. View "People v Perdue" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction on two counts of murder in the second degree and one count of robbery in the second degree, holding that the warrantless entry into Defendant's home was not based on consent, and therefore, the suppression court erred in denying Defendant's motion to suppress.Defendant was indicted on several charges including kidnapping, robbery, and felony murder. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the warrantless, nonconsensual entry into his home was unlawful. The suppression court denied the motion. The appellate division affirmed. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the warrantless entry into the apartment in which Defendant was found by police officers and arrested violated Defendant's rights under the New York and United States Constitutions. View "People v. Cuencas" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeals held that requiring Defendant, who was not a sex offender, to register as a sex offender and comply with the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) in this case violated his due process rights and did nothing to further SORA's legislative purpose to protect the public from actual sex offenders.Defendant pleaded guilty to robbery in the first degree and unlawful imprisonment in the first degree for stealing money at gunpoint from his aunt in the presence of his ten-year-old cousin. Defendant's crime was a SORA-eligible crime and brought Defendant within the statutory definition of "sex offender," thus subjecting him to mandatory sex offender registration. The SORA court found that Defendant was not a sex offender and posed no sexual threat but determined that it was constrained by People v. Knox, 12 NY3d 60 (NY 2009), to impose the SORA requirement. The appellate division affirmed. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that applying SORA to Defendant violated his due process rights by impinging on his liberty interest to be free of his improper designation and registration as a sex offender. View "People v. Brown" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction, holding Supreme Court should have suppressed a gun as the product of an impermissible stop because the police officers lacked reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or probable cause that Defendant had violated the rules of the road while riding his bicycle.Defendant was riding his bicycle down a road when police officers drove alongside him and asked him to stop. Defendant stopped and, in response to an officer's question, admitted that he was carrying a gun. Defendant pleaded guilty to a weapons charge. The appellate division affirmed. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding (1) police interference with a bicyclist is a seizure requiring reasonable suspicion of a criminal offense or probable cause of a Vehicle and Traffic Law violation; and (2) the officers in this case violated the New York and United States Constitutions when they stopped Defendant, and therefore, the indictment against Defendant must be dismissed. View "People v. Rodriguez" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeals affirmed Defendant's conviction for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, holding that none of Defendant's contentions on appeal provided grounds for reversal.Specifically, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court (1) did not abuse its discretion such that the jurors' "ability to follow and apply the law" by limiting Defendant's opportunity to explore the jury's potential biases related to the use of guns for self-defense; (2) did not improperly curtail the questioning of the fifth panel of potential jurors; and (3) did not err by not vacating Defendant's sentence under N.Y. C.P.L. 440.20. View "People v. Garcia" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, holding that Defendant's first challenge was unreviewable and that there was no error in the trial judge's evidentiary rulings.On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that that the inventory search conducted by the police that recovered the handguns giving rise to his conviction was invalid and that Supreme Court improperly allowed prejudicial testimony at his trial. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) neither of Defendant's first two arguments provided grounds for reversal; and (2) Defendant's argument that N.Y. Penal Law 265.03(3) is facially unconstitutional under N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen, 142 S Ct 2111 (2022), was unpreserved for appeal. View "People v. David" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeals affirmed Defendant's conviction, upon a jury verdict, of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree, and unlawful possession of marijuana, holding that Defendant's arguments on appeal were either without merit or unpreserved.Specifically, the Court of Appeals held (1) the People met their burden at the suppression hearing to demonstrate the constitutional validity of the roadblock pursuant to which Defendant's vehicle was stopped; (2) the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act should not be applied retroactively to Defendant's case to render the search of his vehicle unlawful; and (3) Defendant's remaining argument was unpreserved for appellate review. View "People v. Pastrana" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeals reversed Defendant's conviction for one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, holding that the record did not support the trial court's conclusion that Defendant was not in custody for purposes of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 US 436 (1966), when he was handcuffed and questioned by law enforcement officers.On appeal, Defendant argued that Supreme Court erred in denying his motion to suppress statements he made to police while handcuffed and the physical evidence found in his vehicle because the officers failed to read him his Miranda rights prior to questioning him and because he never voluntarily consented to a search of the vehicle. The Court of Appeals reversed Defendant's conviction, holding (1) Defendant was in custody and had not received Miranda warnings when he answered questions by the police officers and therefore, Supreme Court erred in denying Defendant's motion to suppress his responses to the officers' questions; and (2) the Miranda violation when Defendant was stopped and handcuffed did not render his later written consent to search his vehicle involuntary. View "People v. Cabrera" on Justia Law