People v. Michael Newton

The defendant is charged with, inter alia, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. He has moved for an order suppressing physical evidence, contending to be aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure. A hearing to report on the admissibility of this evidence was held bef.....

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

The defendant is charged with, inter alia, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. He has moved for an order suppressing physical evidence, contending to be aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure. A hearing to report on the admissibility of this evidence was held before me on September 2, 2003. At this hearing, the People called Detectives Kelly Lyon and Joseph Coughlin, whose uncontroverted testimony I find credible.

Detective Lyon testified that on March 3, 2002 he was on unmarked patrol “looking for . . . narcotic possessors” (suppression hearing minutes p 7). He said that at approximately 12 noon he saw a white Cadillac parked near 118-19 154th Street in an alley which was wide enough for two vehicles to drive through and which led to 155th Street. The detective stated that he approached the Cadillac, in which three individuals were seated; one male in the front passenger seat, one male behind him, and a female sitting behind the driver’s seat, which was unoccupied. According to Detective Lyon, he took his shield out and said “Police officer, how are you doing? Can I talk to you?” (id. p 9). At this time, the two individuals in the back seat, one of whom he identified to be the defendant, began moving their hands. He testified that he could not see what the two were doing, so he directed them to show their hands. However, the two “kept fumbling” and “refused to show . . . their hands” (id. p 10), despite the fact that he asked them several times to do so. The detective said that he opened the rear door for safety purposes and looked at the rear passengers’ hands. He then looked around the vehicle and saw a ziploc bag of crack/cocaine on the floor near the female passenger. At this time, he removed all three individuals from the Cadillac and placed them under arrest for possession of crack/cocaine.

People v. Michael Newton

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to New York Law Journal