People v. Harrington
| Decision Date | 02 July 1990 |
| Citation | 557 N.Y.S.2d 451,163 A.D.2d 327 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE etc., Respondent, v. Preston HARRINGTON, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Jules St. Germain, Malverne, for appellant.
Denis Dillon, Dist. Atty., Mineola (Lawrence J. Schwarz and Emily R. Daniel, of counsel), for respondent.
Before LAWRENCE, J.P., and KUNZEMAN, RUBIN and ROSENBLATT, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.
Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Nassau County (Belfi, J.), rendered May 17, 1988, convicting him of manslaughter in the first degree, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing, of those branches of the defendant's omnibus motion which were to suppress physical evidence and inculpatory statements made by him to law enforcement authorities.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
The evidence adduced at the suppression hearing established that the defendant's arrest was predicated upon probable cause. Upon responding to the scene of a shooting at a Burger King restaurant, the arresting police officer observed the fatally wounded victim lying behind the counter and immediately conducted a search of the restaurant. He apprehended the defendant shortly after the crime in an area furnishing access to an outside loading dock for the restaurant and adjacent stores. The defendant matched the radio-transmitted description of the assailant in most material respects, which included sex, race, clothing, and a distinctive facial feature--a beard. Contrary to the defendant's contention, the officer had information sufficient to support a reasonable belief that a criminal offense had been committed and that the defendant was the perpetrator (see, People v. Jones, 149 A.D.2d 970, 540 N.Y.S.2d 105; People v. Dennis, 125 A.D.2d 325, 509 N.Y.S.2d 58; cf., People v. Riddick, 110 A.D.2d 787, 487 N.Y.S.2d 855).
Furthermore, there is no basis for disturbing the hearing court's finding that the inculpatory statement made by the defendant to the arresting officer, while being escorted back inside the restaurant, was spontaneous and unsolicited. The police officer neither asked the handcuffed defendant any questions nor engaged in any course of conduct subtly designed to elicit a statement from him (see, People v. Johnston, 147 A.D.2d 589, 537 N.Y.S.2d 882; People v. Bryant, 87 A.D.2d 873, 874, 449 N.Y.S.2d 314, affd. 59 N.Y.2d 786, 464 N.Y.S.2d 729, 451 N.E.2d 476). We also reject the defendant's argument that the confession he made to Detective Allen while in an ambulance en route to the hospital should have been suppressed as violative of his Miranda rights. Prior to the defendant making the confession, Detective Allen had fully advised defend...
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