People v. Lott

• Decision Date: 13 July 1984
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jetter LOTT, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 193

478 N.Y.S.2d 193

102 A.D.2d 506

PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jetter LOTT, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division Fourth Department.

July 13, 1984.

Palmer, Greenman & Hurley, Buffalo (Herbert Greenman, Buffalo, of counsel), for appellant.

Richard J. Arcara, Buffalo (J. Michael Marion, Buffalo, of counsel), for respondent.

Before CALLAHAN, J.P., and DENMAN, BOOMER, O'DONNELL and SCHNEPP, JJ.

CALLAHAN, Justice Presiding.

This appeal raises interesting issues in applying the principle that absent exigent circumstances or consent, police may not enter a suspect's home to make a warrantless arrest (Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639; People v. Levan, 62 N.Y.2d 139, 476 N.Y.S.2d 101, 464 N.E.2d 469; People v. Soto, 96 A.D.2d 741, 465 N.Y.S.2d 82). Did the police action in seizing a loaded weapon and other contraband in defendant's apartment violate this principle?

At approximately 12:30 to 12:45 a.m. on October 23, 1981, a man and woman entered the Fourth Precinct stationhouse in the City of Buffalo and informed a plainclothes police lieutenant that the woman had just been robbed of her money, keys and purse by defendant Jetter Lott at his apartment house located at 70 Sycamore Street. The couple also told the officer that the defendant had a gun in his apartment which he kept on top of a cabinet and that he also had some pills and drugs in the apartment. In response to this information, the lieutenant summoned two other officers and they proceeded to 70 Sycamore Street. The lieutenant testified that he was familiar with this address and knew it to be a two-story rooming house having long hallways with rooms running off them on each floor.

When police arrived at that address, they found the front door to be locked. They knocked on the door and identified themselves as police officers to a person who responded to their knocking. They told this unidentified individual that they had a complaint and were looking for Jetter Lott. After a few minutes delay, the individual opened the door and the police went inside.

It is undisputed that the police had neither an arrest nor a search warrant. Once inside the building, they asked the unidentified individual where defendant's room was, but he did not answer. The police then started up the stairs toward the second floor. When they were about halfway up the stairs, they saw defendant at the top of the stairs dressed in a bathrobe. The lieutenant displayed his badge and asked defendant whether he was Jetter Lott. When the defendant nodded affirmatively, the lieutenant informed him that they were police officers and were there on a robbery complaint involving him. By this time, other individuals were coming out of their rooms into the hallway. The defendant was asked: "Where is your room?" Without answering, defendant turned around and started walking down the hall. The officers, walking "pretty fast", caught up with defendant at the open doorway to his room. Defendant and two police officers entered defendant's room "almost simultaneously" with the lieutenant right behind them. Since the lights were out in the room, the lieutenant shined his flashlight inside. With the light from his flashlight, he spotted a revolver lying on the couch. He seized the weapon and placed defendant under arrest. A further search of the apartment uncovered a quantity of drugs and the victim's keys, personal papers and some money. Defendant was taken outside where he was identified by the complainant as the person who had robbed her. At the suppression hearing, the lieutenant testified that his "main purpose" in going to defendant's apartment that evening was "to seize Mr. Lott. We wanted to arrest him. * * * And recover the weapon, if possible."

At the conclusion of the hearing, the suppression court found that the entry to defendant's apartment, his arrest and search incident to it, did not violate defendant's rights "due to the particular exigent circumstances present". The court therefore denied defendant's motion to suppress the items seized as evidence at trial. Defendant thereafter pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. On this appeal, he seeks review of the order denying his motion to suppress the gun and other contraband found in his apartment.

The right of people to be secure in their house is expressly provided for in both the Fourth Amendment and Article I, section 12, of the New York Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has forcefully stated: "In terms that apply equally to seizures of property and to seizures of persons, the Fourth Amendment has drawn a firm line at the entrance to the house. Absent exigent circumstances, that threshold may not reasonably be crossed without a warrant." (Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 590, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 1382, 63 L.Ed.2d 639). The New York Court of Appeals has recently reiterated this principle decreeing that no private dwelling may be entered by the police to arrest its occupant if an arrest warrant has not been obtained (People v. Levan, 62 N.Y.2d 139, 476 N.Y.S.2d 101, 464 N.E.2d 469).

In the absence of "exigencies of the situation made that course imperative" (McDonald v. United States, 335 U.S. 451, 456, 69 S.Ct. 191, 193, 93 L.Ed. 153), all warrantless searches are presumptively unreasonable per se (People v. Knapp, 52 N.Y.2d 689, 694, 439 N.Y.S.2d 871, 422 N.E.2d 531; People v. Hodge, 44 N.Y.2d 553, 557, 406 N.Y.S.2d 736, 378 N.E.2d 99; see also Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 219, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2043, 36 L.Ed.2d 854; Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 514, 19 L.Ed.2d 576). Thus, where there has been a warrantless intrusion, the People have the burden of overcoming this presumption (People v. Knapp, supra, 52 N.Y.2d p. 694, 439 N.Y.S.2d 871, 422 N.E.2d 531; People v. Calhoun, 49 N.Y.2d 398, 402, 426 N.Y.S.2d 243, 402 N.E.2d 1145; People v. Hodge, supra, 44 N.Y.2d p. 557, 406 N.Y.S.2d 736, 378 N.E.2d 99).

Here, it is undisputed that defendant was arrested in his apartment and that police entered without consent and without any warrant. The People sought to justify this warrantless entry into defendant's home based upon exigent circumstances (see People v. Mealer, 57 N.Y.2d 214, 455 N.Y.S.2d 562, 441 N.E.2d 1080; People v. Battee, 94 A.D.2d 935, 463 N.Y.S.2d 954). The People contend that the warrantless intrusion here was justified because they had just been informed that defendant had committed a robbery, that he had a gun in his apartment and finally because they were concerned about their safety when they encountered defendant in the hallway outside his apartment and he "precipitously" hurried back to his room where the gun was located. The suppression court agreed that these circumstances justified the police in making a warrantless entry into defendant's apartment. For the reasons that follow, we disagree.

Exigent circumstances have been found to exist whenever, though there is probable cause to search, "urgent events make it impossible to obtain a warrant in sufficient time to preserve 'evidence or contraband threatened with removal or destruction' " (People v. Knapp, supra, 52 N.Y.2d p. 695-696, 439 N.Y.S.2d 871, 422 N.E.2d 531, quoting People v. Vaccaro, 39 N.Y.2d 468, 472, 384 N.Y.S.2d 411, 348 N.E.2d 886 and Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 615, 81 S.Ct. 776, 779, 5 L.Ed.2d 828). More recently, in People v. Mealer, 57 N.Y.2d 214, 455 N.Y.S.2d 562, 441 N.E.2d 1080, supra), the Court of Appeals found exigent circumstances to exist "in light of the gravity of the crime, the suspect's possession of and willingness to use a gun, and the likelihood of his attempting to escape" (People v. Mealer, supra, p. 219, 455 N.Y.S.2d 562, 441 N.E.2d 1080; see also People v. Battee, supra, 94 A.D.2d p. 935, 463 N.Y.S.2d 954). The mere fact that police have information that a weapon is located within a suspect's apartment, however, does not justify a warrantless entry (Matter of Kwok T., 43 N.Y.2d 213, 220-221, 401 N.Y.S.2d 52, 371 N.E.2d 814). Here, police were informed that defendant had robbed Jacqueline Thomas. Both Ms. Thomas and her companion also advised police that the defendant had a gun in his apartment, although neither asserted that defendant had used the gun in connection with the alleged robbery. Thus, police had probable cause to obtain either a warrant to arrest defendant for robbery or search his premises for a weapon. Rather than...