People v. Ray

• Decision Date: 07 May 1985
• Citation: 491 N.Y.S.2d 283,480 N.E.2d 1065,65 N.Y.2d 282
• Parties: , 480 N.E.2d 1065 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Appellant, v. Essex RAY, Respondent.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 283

491 N.Y.S.2d 283

65 N.Y.2d 282, 480 N.E.2d 1065

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Appellant, v. Essex RAY, Respondent.

Court of Appeals of New York.

May 7, 1985.

Robert M. Morgenthau, Dist. Atty., New York City (Priscilla Ryan and Robert M. Pitler, New York City, of counsel), for appellant.

Mariann Sullivan and William E. Hellerstein, New York City, for respondent.

OPINION OF THE COURT

JASEN, Judge.

The issue presented on this appeal is whether a private store detective is required to administer Miranda warnings to a shoplifting suspect where a special police officer, also a store employee, is present upon store premises, but does not participate in the apprehension or questioning of the suspect.

On July 16, 1981, at approximately 5:55 p.m., defendant Essex Ray was observed standing by a shelf display of Evan Picone shirts in the men's furnishing department of Bloomingdale's Department Store in Manhattan. His actions were witnessed by a plainclothes store detective, Vincent Galea, who was employed by Bloomingdale's. Galea was suspicious of Essex Ray because he recognized defendant as having been previously apprehended in Bloomingdale's and had seen defendant in the store earlier that day. After standing by the shirt display for one or two minutes, defendant looked to his left and to his right, and seized seven Evan Picone shirts from the shelves. Defendant then left that section of the store with the designer shirts in one hand and a plastic shopping bag in the other hand. He walked directly to the service desk, where store employees handled customer refunds and merchandise returns, and got in line behind five or six people. Galea got in line behind defendant, and was asked by defendant whether he worked at Bloomingdale's, to which Galea responded "no". Defendant then put the seven designer shirts in his shopping bag. Galea thereupon displayed his store security badge, informed defendant that he was a store detective employed by Bloomingdale's, and asked: "Do you want to come with me to the office, please?" Defendant accompanied Galea willingly.

When they reached a security office, which was a windowless room measuring five by seven feet, Galea lightly patted defendant down to see if he had weapons, and filled out four forms, to wit: two cards reflecting defendant's general background, including name, age, birth date and address; a "criminal trespass sheet" which gave notice to defendant that if he returned to the store in the future, he could be arrested for criminal trespass; and, a "circumstances sheet" which set forth the reasons why defendant had been taken to the security room. Defendant was not free to leave during the period of questioning, and Galea did not administer Miranda warnings to defendant at any time. Defendant at no time complained about his health, asked to make a telephone call, or requested food. Galea wrote upon the "circumstances sheet": "I concealed seven Evan Picone shirts totalling $175 in my shopping bag without paying for said merchandise". After reading the circumstances aloud, and permitting defendant to review the written statement for one or two minutes, Galea told defendant to initial the statement to verify that what he wrote was true and to sign the bottom of the paper. Defendant initialed and signed the paper as requested, and Galea then signed his own name on the line designated "witness".

Galea took the papers to his supervisor, the assistant security manager, Susan Rauch. Rauch informed Galea that defendant would be prosecuted, and Galea left. Rauch was the person who made the decision as to whether Bloomingdale's would prosecute, and her approval was necessary whether the apprehension was made by a store detective, such as Galea, or a special police officer. Following the determination by Rauch that defendant would be prosecuted, Galea delivered his paper work to Special Police Officer Julia Bryant, an employee of Bloomingdale's. Officer Bryant, who was licensed as a special officer by the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, was the only special police officer on duty in Bloomingdale's that evening. Officer Bryant administered to defendant his Miranda warnings and took defendant to central booking. The treatment of defendant was in accordance with store custom that the store detectives do not generally administer Miranda warnings and that if a decision were made by the store to prosecute, the store detectives would turn the case over to a special police officer for further proceedings.

On July 17, 1981, defendant was charged with petit larceny (Penal Law § 155.25) and criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree (Penal Law § 165.40). Prior to trial, defendant moved to suppress the inculpatory statement that he had signed in which he admitted to Galea that he had concealed in his shopping bag seven Evan Picone shirts valued at $175 without paying for them. Defense counsel argued, inter alia, that defendant's statement should be suppressed because the involvement of the special police officer in the arrest mandated that defendant be advised of his Miranda rights. The People contended that as a private security guard acting solely on behalf of his private employer, store detective Galea was not required to administer Miranda warnings before questioning defendant.

On November 23, 1981, following argument by counsel, Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County, denied the motion to suppress defendant's statement. The court found that no police officer or special police officer participated in the apprehension or questioning of defendant, nor did any such officer participate in making the decision to prosecute defendant. Concluding that the store detective had acted in a purely private capacity, and not as an agent for the State, the court held that Galea was not required to advise defendant of his Miranda rights, and that defendant's inculpatory statement was voluntary. A jury trial was held on November 25, 1981 and defendant was found guilty on that date of both...