People v. Lambey

• Decision Date: 25 August 2021
• Docket Number: Ind. No. 179/17,2018–07988
• Citation: 150 N.Y.S.3d 602 (Mem),197 A.D.3d 728
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Darnell LAMBEY, appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

197 A.D.3d 728

150 N.Y.S.3d 602 (Mem)

The PEOPLE, etc., respondent,

v.Darnell LAMBEY, appellant.

2018–07988

Ind. No. 179/17

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

Argued—June 4, 2019

August 25, 2021

McCabe Coleman Ventosa & Patterson PLLC, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (David L. Steinberg of counsel), for appellant.

William V. Grady, District Attorney, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (Kirsten A. Rappleyea of counsel), for respondent.

CHERYL E. CHAMBERS, J.P., LEONARD B. AUSTIN, COLLEEN D. DUFFY, LINDA CHRISTOPHER, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Dutchess County (Peter M. Forman, J.), rendered June 12, 2018, convicting him of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a firearm, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, without a hearing, of that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to controvert a search warrant. By decision and order dated October 30, 2019, this Court remitted the matter to the County Court, Dutchess County, for an order directing the People to provide defense counsel with redacted copies of the search warrant applications at issue, and for a hearing and a new determination thereafter of that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to controvert the search warrant ( People v. Lambey, 176 A.D.3d 1232, 111 N.Y.S.3d 388 ). The appeal was held in abeyance pending receipt of a report from the County Court. The County Court has filed its report.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

"To establish probable cause, a search warrant application must provide sufficient information to support a reasonable belief that evidence of a crime may be found in a certain place" ( People v. Coleman, 176 A.D.3d 851, 851, 107 N.Y.S.3d 877 [internal quotation marks omitted]). "There is a strong judicial preference for search warrants ... and courts should not analyze applications in a grudging or hypertechnical manner when determining whether they meet constitutional standards" ( People v. Williams, 249 A.D.2d 343, 344, 670 N.Y.S.2d 893 [citation and internal quotation marks omitted]). Where probable cause is established through hearsay information provided by a confidential informant, the warrant application must also demonstrate both the veracity and reliability of the source of the information and the basis of the informant's knowledge (see People v. Griminger, 71 N.Y.2d 635, 639, 529 N.Y.S.2d 55, 524 N.E.2d 409 ). There is "no one acid test of reliability" ( People v. Rodriguez, 52 N.Y.2d 483, 489, 438 N.Y.S.2d 754, 420 N.E.2d 946 ). A confidential informant will be considered reliable "where details of his [or her] story have been confirmed by police observation" ( id. at 489, 438 N.Y.S.2d 754, 420 N.E.2d 946 ; see People v. Slater, 141 A.D.3d 677, 677–678, 35 N.Y.S.3d 452 ).

The County Court properly denied that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to controvert the search warrant and to suppress physical evidence found upon its execution. The police affidavit submitted in support of the second search warrant application contained ample factual allegations of criminal conduct at the...