People v. Harlow

• Decision Date: 17 June 2021
• Docket Number: KA 18-01625,32
• Citation: 148 N.Y.S.3d 593,195 A.D.3d 1505
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Darrell HARLOW, Defendant-Appellant.

195 A.D.3d 1505

148 N.Y.S.3d 593

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Darrell HARLOW, Defendant-Appellant.

32

KA 18-01625

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

Entered: June 17, 2021

THE ABBATOY LAW FIRM, PLLC, ROCHESTER (DAVID M. ABBATOY, JR., OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

WILLIAM J. FITZPATRICK, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SYRACUSE (BRADLEY W. OASTLER OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.

PRESENT: CARNI, J.P., LINDLEY, CURRAN, TROUTMAN, AND BANNISTER, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon a jury verdict of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree ( Penal Law § 265.03 [3] ) and reckless endangerment in the second degree (§ 120.20), arising from an incident in which a gun was fired from a moving vehicle. We affirm.

Defendant contends that the search warrant for his vehicle was not supported by probable cause connecting defendant to the shooting and that, therefore, Supreme Court erred in refusing to suppress the evidence seized as a result of that search. We reject that contention. "[A] search warrant may be issued only upon a showing of probable cause to believe that a crime has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur" ( People v. Moxley , 137 A.D.3d 1655, 1656, 28 N.Y.S.3d 514 [4th Dept. 2016] ; see generally People v. Mercado , 68 N.Y.2d 874, 875-876, 508 N.Y.S.2d 419, 501 N.E.2d 27 [1986], cert denied 479 U.S. 1095, 107 S.Ct. 1313, 94 L.Ed.2d 166 [1987] ). "[P]robable cause may be supplied, in whole or in part, [by] hearsay information, provided [that] it satisfies the two-part Aguilar-Spinelli test requiring a showing that the informant is reliable and has a basis of knowledge for the information imparted" ( People v. Flowers , 59 A.D.3d 1141, 1142, 873 N.Y.S.2d 413 [4th Dept. 2009] [internal quotation marks omitted]).

Here, the search warrant application relied on information provided by several anonymous informants. Defendant challenges the anonymous informants’ hearsay information only on the ground that the anonymous informants’ reliability or the basis of their knowledge was not adequately established. We conclude, however, that the anonymous informants’ reliability and the basis for their knowledge was established by corroborating evidence they provided regarding details of the incident and by the description they provided of the vehicle and the individual seen fleeing the scene (see generally People v. Myhand , 120 A.D.3d 970, 973-976, 991 N.Y.S.2d 222 [4th Dept. 2014], lv denied 25 NY3d 952, 7 N.Y.S.3d 281, 30 N.E.3d 172 [2015]; People v. Monroe , 82 A.D.3d 1674, 1675, 919 N.Y.S.2d 666 [4th Dept. 2011], lv denied 17 N.Y.3d 808, 929 N.Y.S.2d 568, 953 N.E.2d 806 [2011] ; Flowers , 59 A.D.3d at 1142-1143, 873 N.Y.S.2d 413 ) and that the search warrant was supported by probable cause.

We also reject defendant's contention that the police lacked probable cause to seize his vehicle and the sweatshirt he was wearing when he arrived at the police station. Specifically, we conclude that the court properly determined that the police had probable cause to arrest defendant once they corroborated the accounts of the incident provided by the anonymous informants, which indicated that defendant was involved in the shooting (see generally People v. DiFalco , 80 N.Y.2d 693, 696-697, 594 N.Y.S.2d 679, 610 N.E.2d 352 [1993] ; People v. Griswold , 155 A.D.3d 1658, 1659, 64 N.Y.S.3d 450 [4th Dept. 2017], lv denied 31 N.Y.3d 984, 77 N.Y.S.3d 661, 102 N.E.3d 438 [2018] ; People v. McLean , 72 A.D.2d 588, 588, 420 N.Y.S.2d 930 [2d Dept. 1979] ). Because the police had probable cause to arrest defendant, we further conclude that the court properly refused to suppress the vehicle and sweatshirt seized incident to the lawful arrest (see People v. Fuqua , 184 A.D.3d 1093, 1094, 125 N.Y.S.3d 525 [4th Dept. 2020], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 1065, 129 N.Y.S.3d 397, 152 N.E.3d 1198 [2020] ; People v. Lewis , 89 A.D.3d 1485, 1485, 932 N.Y.S.2d 663 [4th Dept. 2011] ; People v. Beach , 187 A.D.2d 943, 944, 590 N.Y.S.2d 620 [4th Dept. 1992] ).

We agree with defendant that, at trial, the court improperly allowed a police officer to identify him in a surveillance video. "A lay witness may give an opinion concerning the identity of a person depicted in a surveillance [video] if there is some basis for concluding that the witness is more likely to correctly identify the defendant from the [video] than is the jury" ( People v. Graham , 174 A.D.3d 1486, 1487-1488, 105 N.Y.S.3d 756 [4th Dept. 2019], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 1016, 114 N.Y.S.3d 759, 138 N.E.3d 488 [2019] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see People v. Russell , 165 A.D.2d 327, 333, 567 N.Y.S.2d 548 [2d Dept. 1991], affd 79 N.Y.2d 1024, 584 N.Y.S.2d 428, 594 N.E.2d 922 [1992] ). Here, "there was no basis for concluding that the [officer] was more likely than the jury to correctly determine whether ... defendant was depicted in the video" ( People v. Reddick , 164 A.D.3d 526, 527, 82 N.Y.S.3d 79 [2d Dept. 2018], lv denied 32 N.Y.3d 1114, 91 N.Y.S.3d 365, 115 N.E.3d 637 [2018] ; see People v. Oquendo , 152 A.D.3d 1220, 1221, 57 N.Y.S.3d 872 [4th Dept. 2017], lv denied 30 N.Y.3d 982, 67 N.Y.S.3d 584, 89 N.E.3d 1264 [2017] ). The officer was not familiar with defendant, and there was no evidence showing that defendant had changed his appearance before trial (see Reddick , 164 A.D.3d at 527, 82 N.Y.S.3d 79 ; cf. People v. Sanchez , 21 N.Y.3d 216, 225, 969 N.Y.S.2d 840, 991 N.E.2d 698 [2013] ; People v. Jones , 161 A.D.3d 1103, 1103, 77 N.Y.S.3d 698 [2d Dept. 2018], lv denied 32 N.Y.3d 938, 84 N.Y.S.3d 865, 109 N.E.3d 1165 [2018] ).

We also agree with defendant that the court erred in permitting the People to elicit testimony from police officers regarding what they learned from others about defendant's involvement in the shooting. The challenged testimony was hearsay that was not admissible under any cognizable exception to the hearsay rule. The People essentially argue that this testimony was admissible under People v. Molineux, 168 N.Y. 264, 61 N.E. 286 (1901) to complete the narrative with background information. We reject that argument and reiterate that "there is no Molineux exception to the rule against hearsay" ( People v. Meadow , 140 A.D.3d 1596, 1599, 33 N.Y.S.3d 597 [4th Dept. 2016], lv denied 28 N.Y.3d 933, 40 N.Y.S.3d 361, 63 N.E.3d 81 [2016], reconsideration denied 28 N.Y.3d 972, 43 N.Y.S.3d 260, 66 N.E.3d 6 [2016] ). There is also no general exception to the hearsay rule for testimony relating to background conduct, information, or explanation of a subject matter or event (see id. at 1600, 33 N.Y.S.3d 597 ; see generally Guide to NY Evid rule 8.01, Admissibility of Hearsay).

Nevertheless, we conclude that any error in admitting the challenged testimony was harmless in light of the otherwise overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt and because there was no significant probability that the error in admitting the testimony contributed to the conviction (see Reddick , 164 A.D.3d at 527, 82 N.Y.S.3d 79 ; see generally People v. Crimmins , 36 N.Y.2d 230, 241-242, 367 N.Y.S.2d 213, 326 N.E.2d 787 [1975] ).

Contrary to defendant's further contention, we conclude that the People established a sufficient foundation for the admission in evidence of recordings of telephone calls made by defendant while he was incarcerated (see generally People v. Ely , 68 N.Y.2d 520, 527-528, 510 N.Y.S.2d 532, 503 N.E.2d 88 [1986] ; People v. Sostre , 172 A.D.3d 1623, 1625, 100 N.Y.S.3d 768 [3d Dept. 2019], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 938, 109 N.Y.S.3d 726, 133 N.E.3d 429 [2019] ; People v. Bell , 5 A.D.3d 858, 861, 773 N.Y.S.2d 491 [3d Dept. 2004] ; People v. Rendon , 273 A.D.2d 616, 618, 709 N.Y.S.2d 698 [3d Dept. 2000], lv denied 95 N.Y.2d 968, 722 N.Y.S.2d 486, 745 N.E.2d 406 [2000] ). The content of the recordings established defendant's identity as the caller, and the testimony of the individual in charge of maintaining the jail's recording system established that the recordings were "complete and accurate reproduction[s] of the conversation[s] and [that they had] not been altered" ( Ely , 68 N.Y.2d at 527, 510 N.Y.S.2d 532, 503 N.E.2d 88 ).

To the extent defendant contends that the evidence adduced by the People at trial created the possibility that he was convicted of the crime of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree on a theory different from that charged in the indictment or that the evidence created an issue of nonfacial duplicity, those contentions are not preserved for our review (see People v. Hursh , 191 A.D.3d 1453, 1454, 138 N.Y.S.3d 437 [4th Dept. 2021] ; People v. Lynch , 191 A.D.3d 1476, 1477, 138 N.Y.S.3d 429 [4th Dept. 2021] ; see generally People v. Allen , 24 N.Y.3d 441, 449-450, 999 N.Y.S.2d 350, 24 N.E.3d 586 [2014] ), and we decline to exercise our power to review that contention as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice (see CPL 470.15 [6] [a] ). We further conclude that, viewing the evidence in light of the elements of that crime as charged to the jury (see People v. Danielson , 9 N.Y.3d 342, 349, 849 N.Y.S.2d 480, 880 N.E.2d 1 [2007] ), the verdict is not against the weight of the evidence (see generally People v. Bleakley , 69 N.Y.2d 490, 495, 515 N.Y.S.2d 761, 508 N.E.2d 672 [1987] ). On the record before us, the testimony adduced at trial, and any inconsistencies presented therein, merely "presented issues of credibility for the factfinder to resolve" ( People v. Williams , 179 A.D.3d 1502, 1503, 118 N.Y.S.3d 847 [4th Dept. 2020], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 995, 125 N.Y.S.3d 635, 149 N.E.3d 396 [2020] ; see People v. Withrow , 170 A.D.3d 1578, 1579, 95 N.Y.S.3d 696 [4th Dept. 2019], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 940, 109 N.Y.S.3d 740, 133 N.E.3d 444 [2019], reconsideration denied 34 N.Y.3d 1020, 114 N.Y.S.3d 745, 138 N.E.3d 474 [2019] ), and we see no reason to disturb the jury's credibility...