People v. Carey

• Citation: 178 A.D.2d 992,578 N.Y.S.2d 330
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Richard CAREY, Appellant.
• Decision Date: 26 December 1991
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 330

578 N.Y.S.2d 330

178 A.D.2d 992

PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Richard CAREY, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division,

Fourth Department.

Dec. 26, 1991.

Catherine Johns, Batavia, for appellant.

Robert C. Noonan, by William Zickl, Batavia, for respondent.

Before DENMAN, P.J., and CALLAHAN, BALIO, LAWTON and DAVIS, JJ.

MEMORANDUM:

Defendant was convicted, upon a plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree (Penal Law § 220.09). He contends on appeal that the warrantless search of his vehicle was improper. We disagree. After validly stopping defendant's vehicle, the State Trooper observed, in plain view, a bag of marihuana inside the passenger compartment of the automobile. The State Trooper's discovery of marihuana combined with defendant's statement that he "forgot to put it away", provided the requisite probable cause to search both the trunk of defendant's vehicle and the locked briefcase contained therein (see, California v. Acevedo, 500 U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1982, 114 L.Ed.2d 619; United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 102 S.Ct. 2157, 72 L.Ed.2d 572; People v. Ellis, 62 N.Y.2d 393, 477 N.Y.S.2d 106, 465 N.E.2d 826; People v. Langen, 60 N.Y.2d 170, 469 N.Y.S.2d 44, 456 N.E.2d 1167, cert. denied 465 U.S. 1028, 104 S.Ct. 1287, 79 L.Ed.2d 690; People v. Etheridge, 175 A.D.2d 739, 740, 573 N.Y.S.2d 496, 498; People v. Carmichael, 155 A.D.2d 983, 984-985, 547 N.Y.S.2d 786, lv. denied 75 N.Y.2d 811, 552 N.Y.S.2d 561, 551 N.E.2d 1239).

Judgment unanimously affirmed.