People v. Blandford

Decision Date07 January 2021
Docket Number111005
Parties The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Reginald E. BLANDFORD, Appellant.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

190 A.D.3d 1033
138 N.Y.S.3d 710

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Reginald E. BLANDFORD, Appellant.

111005

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Calendar Date: November 16, 2020
Decided and Entered: January 7, 2021


MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Garry, P.J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Chemung County (Baker, J.), rendered March 25, 2019, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of attempted criminal possession of marihuana in the second degree.

In November 2017, state troopers conducted a traffic stop of defendant's vehicle, followed by a canine sniff search that disclosed marihuana and paraphernalia associated with drug sales in the vehicle. Defendant was charged with one count of criminal possession of marihuana in the second degree. After County Court denied defendant's motion to suppress the evidence found in the vehicle, defendant pleaded guilty to one count of attempted criminal possession of marihuana in the second degree. In accordance with the plea agreement, the court sentenced defendant, as a second felony offender, to a prison term of 1½ years, to be followed by two years of postrelease supervision, and ordered his enrollment in a shock incarceration program pursuant to Penal Law § 60.04(7). Defendant appeals.

We reject defendant's contention that County Court should have found that the traffic stop and the canine search were unlawful. The testimony at the suppression hearing established that a State Police investigator in the City of Elmira, Chemung County saw defendant drive past him at about 5:00 p.m. without wearing a seatbelt. Based upon past surveillance and general police knowledge, the investigator knew that defendant was involved in the illegal sale of narcotics. As the investigator followed defendant's vehicle, he contacted a state trooper who was a canine handler, advised the trooper of what he had seen and asked the trooper to come to the scene to conduct a traffic stop of defendant's vehicle. The investigator watched defendant drive into the parking lot of a convenience store that was familiar to the investigator as a "trouble spot" for drug transactions. Defendant got out of his vehicle and entered the store, where he remained for about five minutes. When defendant left the store, he made physical contact with at least one of several people outside the store, which the investigator described as "a handshake, type hug thing." The investigator did not see anything in defendant's hands during this contact, but he testified that, in his professional experience, it was common for participants

138 N.Y.S.3d 712

in outdoor drug transactions to "hug somebody, tap them up, and make an exchange" of currency and narcotics. He described the convenience store as "notorious" for such activity. Defendant and a male passenger then got into defendant's car and drove away.

After being contacted by the investigator, the trooper drove with his canine partner to the convenience store. As he arrived, he saw defendant leaving the building with no purchases in his hands. The trooper watched defendant conversing with people outside the store and "giving hand shakes, high fives, [and] hugs," behaviors that, in the trooper's experience, occurred "routinely" during drug transactions. The trooper followed defendant's vehicle and, at 5:10 p.m., observed that the license plate was inadequately lit. The trooper turned on his emergency lights to initiate a stop and observed a "slow roll response," in which defendant slowed down but did not immediately stop his vehicle. The trooper saw defendant make "furtive movements" inside the car, ducking down in his seat, moving around, reaching over the passenger seat and doing something that the trooper could not see "in the floorboard area and/or the backseat." He stated that, in his professional experience, this behavior was not typical of most drivers, who usually came to an immediate stop and "s[a]t easy within the seat" when pulled over.

After the vehicle stopped, the trooper spoke with defendant at the driver side window and obtained identification information for defendant and the passenger. The trooper permitted the passenger to leave, asked defendant to step out of the vehicle and spoke with him briefly about such matters as his reason for visiting the store without making a purchase and the movements he had made in the vehicle. In response, defendant "talked in a circle" and gave inconsistent answers. The trooper then asked defendant for permission to search the vehicle. Defendant gave limited consent, agreeing only to a search of the backseat and passenger seat area. The trooper retrieved his canine partner from his vehicle and, at 5:19 p.m., conducted a canine sniff search of the outside of defendant's car. The canine alerted to the outside of the trunk and, when the trunk was opened, to a bag that contained multiple bags of marihuana, digital scales and other paraphernalia associated with drug sales.

First addressing the traffic stop, a police officer who has probable cause to believe that a driver has committed a traffic infraction may stop a vehicle without violating either the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or article I, § 12 of the N.Y. Constitution, even if the officer's primary motivation is to conduct another investigation (see People v. Robinson, 97 N.Y.2d 341, 346, 741 N.Y.S.2d 147, 767 N.E.2d 638 [2001] ). The Vehicle and Traffic Law requires vehicles to have "a white light which shall illuminate the numerals on [the rear license] plate in such manner as to render such numerals legible for at least [50] feet from the rear" ( Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375[2][a][4] ). This requirement applies in certain circumstances, including the period between 30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise – but also "at such other times as visibility for a distance of [1,000] feet ahead of such motor vehicle is not clear" ( Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375[2][a] ). Thus, contrary to defendant's argument, the fact that 30 minutes had not yet passed after sunset did not render the stop improper.1 The trooper testified that it was

138 N.Y.S.3d 713

fully dark at the time of the stop and that he and...

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  • People v. Butler
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • May 20, 2021
    ...). To begin, defendant acknowledges that the police officers had probable cause to effect the traffic stop (see People v. Blandford, 190 A.D.3d 1033, 1035, 138 N.Y.S.3d 710 [2021], lv granted 36 N.Y.3d 1102, 144 N.Y.S.3d 154, 167 N.E.3d 1289 [Mar. 5, 2021] ). Defendant asserts, however, tha......
  • People v. Thomas
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