People v. Lipsey

• Decision Date: 10 February 1998
• Parties: , 1998 N.Y. Slip Op. 1367 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Paul LIPSEY, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 603

668 N.Y.S.2d 603

247 A.D.2d 246, 1998 N.Y. Slip Op. 1367

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Paul LIPSEY, Defendant-Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department.

Feb. 10, 1998.

Rafael Corbelo, for Respondent.

Steven R. Berko, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before SULLIVAN, J.P., and MILONAS, MAZZARELLI and ANDRIAS, JJ.

MEMORANDUM DECISION.

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Joseph Fisch, J.), rendered January 17, 1996, convicting defendant, after a nonjury trial, of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, and sentencing him to a prison term of 1 year, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant's suppression motion was properly denied. The record supports the court's credibility determinations. There was reasonable suspicion to pursue defendant where, within minutes of receiving a transmission of an African-American man wearing a beige jacket and carrying a gun, the officers encountered defendant, who matched the description, near the reported location, and defendant immediately fled upon making eye contact with one of the officers as the police car approached the scene (Matter of Dalmin M., 201 A.D.2d 343, 607 N.Y.S.2d 637, appeal dismissed 83 N.Y.2d 883, 613 N.Y.S.2d 124, 635 N.E.2d 293). There was probable cause to arrest defendant when he discarded the gun during his flight (People v. Smith, 220 A.D.2d 219, 631 N.Y.S.2d 695, lv. denied 87 N.Y.2d 1025, 644 N.Y.S.2d 159, 666 N.E.2d 1073).