Improper for Police to Extend Traffic Stop Without Reasonable Suspicion
Last Friday a divided Appellate Division, Fourth Department ruled that an extended investigation resulting from a tinted-windows stop was illegal, and suppressed drugs, dismissed drug possession, assault 2, resisting arrest and OGA convictions as a result (People v Edwards, 2009 WL 2635784 [4th Dept 8/28/09]). Deputies stopped Mr. Edwards for having excessively tinted windows. After using the tint meter, deputies determined that he appeared more nervous than a simple traffic stop warranted, presumably using...
read moreParole Cannot Be Denied Solely Due To Seriousness of Crime
In Matter of Johnson v New York State Div. of Parole (2009 NY Slip Op 06359 [4th Dept 8/27/09]) an appeal from the dismissal of an Article 78 petition challenging the denial of parole, the Fourth Department reversed and ordered a new parole hearing upon a finding that the Parole Board failed to weigh all of the relevant statutory factors and that there is “a strong indication that the denial of petitioner’s application was...
read moreCrawford and Lab Reports — Settled?
In 2004, the United States Supreme Court, in Crawford v. Washington (541 U.S. 36 [2004]), overruled its prior holding in Ohio v Roberts ( 41 U.S. 36 [2004]) that reliability of hearsay evidence is the test for admissibility, and held that “Where testimonial evidence is at issue, however, the Sixth Amendment demands what the common law required: unavailability and a prior opportunity for cross-examination…. [T]he only indicium of reliability sufficient to satisfy constitutional demands...
read moreInsufficient Protest To Insufficient Proof
In 1995, in People v Gray (86 NY2d 10 [1995]) the Court of Appeals held that a motion for a trial order of dismissal on the grounds of insufficiency of proof must specify the insufficiency in order to preserve the issue for review. When motion to dismiss is not sufficiently specific there is not a preserved issue of law before the appellate court (See People v Hawkins, 11 NY3d 484 [2008](discussed here). One would...
read moreNew York Law as a Source of Rights
Last month,in People v Weaver (5/12/09)(discussed here, the Court of Appeals held that the New York Constitution requires that a warrant issued upon probable cause be issued before the police can monitor someone’s whereabouts by surreptitiously attaching an electronic device (GPS) to that person’s automobile. Thus New Yorkers need not worry that police without warrants or cause could attach such devices to their vehicles in New York and record the vehicles’ minute by minute...
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