People v. Montilla

Decision Date13 January 2000
PartiesTHE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Appellant,<BR>v.<BR>EDWARD MONTILLA, Respondent.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Concur — Wallach, Lerner, Rubin and Buckley, JJ.

Any inquiry into the propriety of police conduct must weigh the degree of intrusion it entails against the precipitating and attending circumstances (People v De Bour, 40 NY2d 210, 223). The focus of the court's inquiry is whether the police conduct was reasonable in view of the totality of the circumstances (People v Batista, 88 NY2d 650, 653; People v Smith, 228 AD2d 173, lv denied 88 NY2d 1071). Here, the general description of the robbery suspect and his location provided in the radio run, together with the police officer's arrival at the scene within minutes of the crime and his observation of defendant, who matched the description, provided the officer with a common law right to inquire. Defendant's flight before the police could make any inquiry created a reasonable suspicion of criminality justifying the pursuit (People v Lipsey, 247 AD2d 246, lv denied 91 NY2d 974). Accordingly, the hearing court's suppression of the gun defendant discarded in his flight from the police was in error.

Ellerin, J. P., dissents and would affirm for the reasons stated by Bamberger, J.

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9 cases
  • People v. Bilal
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • March 7, 2019
    ...unlike the cases relied on by the People, defendant did not match any description, general or otherwise (see e.g. People v. Montilla, 268 A.D.2d 270, 701 N.Y.S.2d 55 [1st Dept. 2000], appeal dismissed 95 N.Y.2d 830, 712 N.Y.S.2d 909, 734 N.E.2d 1210 [2000] ). Further, there was insufficient......
  • People v. Bradford
    • United States
    • New York County Court
    • May 21, 2010
    ...the police conduct was reasonable in view of the totality of the circumstances (People v. Batista, 88 N.Y.2d 650, 653,People v. Montilla, 268 A.D.2d 270) for, as we have stated in the past, reasonableness is the touchstone by which police-citizen encounters are measured (see, e.g., People v......
  • People v. Castro
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court
    • May 27, 2014
    ...if it did not already exist, reasonable suspicion of criminality justifying their pursuit of the defendant (see People v. Montilla, 268 A.D.2d 270 [1st Dept 2000], appeal dismissed 95 N.Y.2d 830 [2000];People v. Lipsey, 247 A.D.2d 246 [1st Dept 1998], appeal denied 91 N.Y.2d 974 [1998] ). “......
  • People v. Mundy
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court
    • April 28, 2015
    ...the police pursuit, which now constituted a seizure. See People v. Agramonte, 57 AD3d 333, 334 (1st Dept 2008) ; People v. Montilla, 268 A.D.2d 270 (1st Dept 2000). The officer reasonably decided to draw his weapon based on his common-sense belief that defendant was running because he was t......
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