PEOPLE, res, v. NICKOLAS MOORMAN, def-ap

3530. PEOPLE, res, v. NICKOLAS MOORMAN, def-ap — Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Carl S. Kaplan of counsel), for ap — Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Vincent Rivellese of counsel), for res — Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Daniel P. Conviser, J. at hearing; Arlene D. Goldberg, J. at jury trial and sentencing), rendered December 11, 2014, convicting defendant of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony drug offender previously convicted of a violent felony, to a term of 7 years, unanimously affirmed.

The hearing court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress physical evidence. When, in a drug-prone area, an officer saw defendant holding a palm-sized plastic bag that the officer recognized from his experience as a possible container for drugs, and when, after the officer merely approached, defendant exhibited a startled expression and appeared to be hiding the bag, the officer had, at least, a founded suspicion of criminal activity warranting a common-law inquiry (see People v. Loretta, 107 AD3d 541 [1st Dept 2013], lv denied 22 NY3d 1157 [2014]). The officer did not explicitly or implicitly demand that defendant surrender the bag, but only asked what was in it, leading defendant to open his hand and reveal the presence of drugs (see People v. Carrasquillo, 54 NY2d 248, 253 [1981]; see also People v. Bora, 83 NY2d 531, 532-535 [1994]).