People v. Brown

• Decision Date: 27 June 1994
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Derrick BROWN, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 690

613 N.Y.S.2d 690

205 A.D.2d 791

The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Derrick BROWN, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division,

Second Department.

June 27, 1994.

Philip L. Weinstein, New York City (William Carney, of counsel), for appellant.

Richard A. Brown, Dist. Atty., Kew Gardens (Steven J. Chananie, Linda Cantoni, and Steven L. Kopp, of counsel), for respondent.

Before SULLIVAN, J.P., and BALLETTA, COPERTINO and SANTUCCI, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Eng, J.), rendered March 3, 1992, convicting him of murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, on the law, and the matter remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for further proceedings in accordance herewith.

The defendant was convicted of shooting another man to death in the street. On appeal, he argues that the line-up identification of him as the shooter was the fruit of his illegal arrest. We agree and now reverse.

In order to effect a warrantless arrest of a defendant, the police must possess probable cause (see, People v. Johnson, 66 N.Y.2d 398, 497 N.Y.S.2d 618, 488 N.E.2d 439; People v. Bigelow, 66 N.Y.2d 417, 497 N.Y.S.2d 630, 488 N.E.2d 451). Probable cause may be based on hearsay, and New York follows the Aguilar -Spinelli rule concerning the use of hearsay (see, Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723; Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637; People v. Johnson, supra; People v. Bigelow, supra ). The Aguilar -Spinelli rule requires hearsay to satisfy a two-pronged test before it may support a finding of probable cause: (1) there must be some indication that the informant is reliable and (2) there must be some indication that the informant has a basis for his or her knowledge (see, People v. Johnson, supra; People v. Bigelow, supra ).

Here, the only evidence that tied the defendant to the nickname "Black" or to the shooting was derived from hearsay. However, the hearing record does not reveal the source of the hearsay. Thus, it is not possible to determine the reliability of the hearsay under either prong of the Aguilar -Spinelli test. Accordingly, the hearsay evidence on which the police relied to arrest the defendant was insufficient to support a finding of probable cause (see, People v. Johnson, 66 N.Y.2d 398, supra, at 403, 497 N.Y.S.2d 618, 488 N.E.2d 439; People v. Rodriguez, 52 N.Y.2d 483, 438 N.Y.S.2d 754...