People v. Burch

• Citation: 201 A.D.3d 811,160 N.Y.S.3d 95
• Decision Date: 19 January 2022
• Docket Number: 2018–08808,Ind. No. 1256/17
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Chandler BURCH, appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

201 A.D.3d 811

160 N.Y.S.3d 95

The PEOPLE, etc., respondent,

v.Chandler BURCH, appellant.

2018–08808

Ind. No. 1256/17

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

Argued—November 19, 2021

January 19, 2022

Patricia Pazner, New York, NY (Hannah Kon of counsel), for appellant.

Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY (Leonard Joblove, Morgan J. Dennehy, and Andrew S. Ayala of counsel), for respondent.

REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P., SYLVIA O. HINDS–RADIX, WILLIAM G. FORD, DEBORAH A. DOWLING, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Danny K. Chun, J.), rendered June 20, 2018, as amended June 22, 2018, convicting him of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing (Joanne D. Quin~ones, J.), of those branches of the defendant's omnibus motion which were to suppress physical evidence and his statement to law enforcement officials.

ORDERED that the judgment, as amended, is affirmed.

At a suppression hearing, the People presented evidence that the defendant entered a bodega as two unmarked police vehicles approached and exited the bodega moments later. A police sergeant testified that he observed the defendant dispose of an object that looked like a firearm inside the bodega. According to the sergeant, he had an unimpeded view from his vehicle of the defendant through the window of the bodega, approximately 20 to 30 feet away. The sergeant left his vehicle and approached the defendant, asking him what he put in the bodega. The sergeant testified that the defendant denied putting anything in the bodega but admitted to possessing crack cocaine. The defendant was arrested, and crack cocaine was recovered from his pocket. A gun was recovered from a garbage can near the window of the bodega. In addition to police testimony, surveillance video evidence of the interior and exterior of the bodega was introduced during the hearing.

"A hearing court's determination as to witness credibility is accorded great weight on appeal, as it saw and heard the witnesses, and its determination will not be disturbed unless clearly unsupported by the evidence" ( People v. Rodriguez , 194 A.D.3d 968, 972, 147 N.Y.S.3d 678 [internal quotation marks omitted], lv granted 37 N.Y.3d 995, 152 N.Y.S.3d 404, 174 N.E.3d 344 ). Contrary to the defendant's contention, the video evidence did not undermine the sergeant's testimony that he had an unobstructed view of the defendant when he entered the bodega. Further, there is no support for the defendant's contentions that the sergeant's testimony was incredible, patently tailored to nullify constitutional objections, or otherwise unworthy of belief (see People v. McCurbin , 188 A.D.3d 1098, 1099, 135 N.Y.S.3d 137 ).

The Supreme Court properly determined that the defendant's incriminating statement, made in response to a single question, was not the result of a custodial interrogation (see People v. Huffman, 41 N.Y.2d 29, 34, 390 N.Y.S.2d 843, 359 N.E.2d 353 ; People v. Valentin, 118 A.D.3d 823, 824, 987 N.Y.S.2d 227 ). The crack cocaine was subsequently recovered during a search incident to the defendant's lawful arrest (see People v. Houston, 177 A.D.3d 902, 903, 110 N.Y.S.3d 578 ). Accordi...