People v. Rose
| Citation | 2023 NY Slip Op 33759 (U) |
| Docket Number | Indictment No. 21-0155 |
| Decision Date | 24 March 2023 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK v. ALEXIS ROSE, Defendant. |
| Court | New York County Court |
Unpublished Opinion
Honorable Miriam Rocah District Attorney of Westchester County County
Office of Clare Degnan, Esq. The Legal Aid Society of Westchester County Attorneys for Defendant
By Indictment Number 21-0155, the defendant presently stands Charged with a single count of Murder in the Second Degree pursuant to Penal Law § 125.25(1), a single count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree pursuant to Penal Law § 265.03(3), a single count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree pursuant to Penal Law § 265.03(1)(b), a single count of Criminal Contempt in the First Degree pursuant to Penal Law § 215.51 (b)(i), and a single count of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree pursuant to Penal Law § 215.50(3), all of which are alleged to have been committed by the defendant within the on March 5, 2021. The defendant was arraigned under the instant indictment before the County Court, Westchester County (Minihan, J.), in the presence of counsel on March 31 2021, and entered a plea of not guilty to all charged counts.
The defendant filed an omnibus motion seeking various forms of relief on May 14, 2021, and by Decision and Order dated June 9, 2021, the County Court, Westchester County (Minihan, J.) granted relief requested to the extent that a pre-trial hearing was ordered (1) pursuant to People v Huntley (15 N.Y.2d 72) and Dunaway v New York (442 U.S. 200) to address the defendant's general claim that his noticed statements were involuntarily made within the meaning of CPL 60.45, presumably as the product of impermissible coercion and/or undue pressure, and in the absence of his knowing and voluntary waiver of his Miranda rights in violation of the defendant's rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as the defendant's claim that his noticed statements were obtained by the police as the product of an unlawful arrest in violation of the defendant's rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution,[1] (2) pursuant to Mapp v Ohio (367 U.S. 643) and Dunaway v New York (442 U.S. 200) in order to address defendant's challenge to the propriety of any search resulting in the seizure of property not obtained pursuant to a search warrant, and (3) pursuant to United States v Wade (388 U.S. 218) and People v Rodriguez (79 N.Y.2d 445) to address the defendant's claim that the identification procedures utilized by the police with respect to the noticed identifications were unduly suggestive.[2] The defendant filed a motion to reargue seeking relief pursuant to CPLR 2221 (d) on February 28, 2023, and by Decision and Order dated March 1, 2023, the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Minihan, J.) granted relief requested to the extent that the scope of the previously ordered pre-trial suppression hearing was expended to include the defendant's apparent challenge to the veracity of the affiant with regard to the date of his execution of the search warrant which he reported upon the search warrant return that he had presented to Judge Quinones of the Yonkers City Court on March 10, 2021.
In accordance therewith, this .Court conducted a combined Huntley/Dunaway, Mapp/Dunaway, and Rodriguez/Wade hearing on March 2 and 9, 2023, and having heard the testimony of Detectives Michael Hollywood, Sean McCormack, Neal Cromwell and Marissa Romano, and Sergeants Javier Lugo and Douglas Brady of the City of Yonkers Police Department (YPD) on behalf of the People, whereas the defendant elected not to present any witnesses on behalf of the defense, and I give full credence to their testimony.
Based upon the testimonial and documentary evidence adduced on behalf of the People during this combined pre-trial suppression hearing, this Court makes the following findings of fact and reaches the following conclusions of law:
FINDINGS OF FACT
On March 5, 2021, Dets. Hollywood, Cromwell and Sgt. Brady of the YPD responded to 157 Warburton Avenue in the City of Yonkers (hereinafter, the crime scene) at approximately 9:00 PM, in response to a reported shooting at that location. After arriving at the crime scene, Dets. Hollywood and Cromwell, and Sgt. Brady entered the residence situated thereat and observed a male subject lying upon the floor of the entry hallway, later identified as Shaun Hutchinson (hereinafter, the victim), who appeared to be deceased as the result of several apparent gunshot wounds. Following this observation of the victim, Det. Cromwell spoke with a woman outside of the residence who had identified herself as Shamaya Green and had related that an individual known to her as Alex, whom she knew to be the former boyfriend of her niece named Janelle, had brushed past her upon entering Janelle's apartment and had used a gun to shoot the victim before brushing past her a second time while leaving the crime scene. After speaking with Ms. Green, Det. Cromwell spoke with her niece, Janelle Cummings, within her apartment, who advised him that the victim was the father of her child, and that the shooter had previously been her boyfriend for 2!4 years and was named Alexis Rose, images of whom she possessed within her cellular telephone. Upon Det. Cromwell's request, Ms. Cummings used her cellular telephone to show him with a digital photograph of Alexis Rose, and a digital photograph of his white BMW automobile that reflected his license plate number which was admitted into evidence during this proceeding as People's Exhibit 2D.
Thereafter, Det. Cromwell arranged to have Janelle Cummings transported to the YPD Headquarters, where he met with later that night at approximately 10:00 PM, after he had electronically obtained a photograph of Alexis Rose from e-JusticeNY and had transposed same onto a single sheet of paper. Upon meeting with Janelle Cummings, Det. Cromwell took a formal statement from her and showed her this transposed photograph of Alexis Rose, upon which she wrote "(t]his is Alexis Rose who shot Shaun Hutchinson [a]t my house at 157 Warburton [A]venue" and her signature, as well as "3/5/21" and "10 PM", which was admitted into evidence during this proceeding as People's Exhibit 2B.
Following his return to YPD Headquarters later that night, Sgt. Brady met with Ms. Green, who had previously related to Det. Cromwell at the crime scene that she had known Alex through his relationship with her niece for between 2 and 2/2 years. In response to Ms. Green's report, Det. Cromwell provided Sgt; Brady with an unmarked paper copy of the defendant's photograph that he had obtained earlier that night from e-JusticeNY, and Sgt. Brady displayed that transposed photograph to Ms. Green at approximately 10:44 PM that night, upon which she wrote and her signature, "3/5/21" and "10:44 PM", which was admitted into evidence during this proceeding as People's Exhibit 3B.
Shortly thereafter, having utilized information obtained from witnesses and the e-JusticeNY portal which included an image of Alexis Rose, members of the YPD responded to the area of 4007 Hill Avenue in the Bronx and successfully located him as he exited his residence at that location, and then apprehended him after he had entered his white BMW automobile later that night at approximately 11:02 PM. After the members of the YPD approached Alexis Rose to apprehend him, one of them asked him for his name, and he replied, in substance, that his . name was Alexis Rose.
After having determined that a resident of a neighboring apartment at the crime scene named Roman Perez should be interviewed at YPD Headquarters, Det. Cromwell arranged to have Sgt. Lugo meet with Mr. Perez there later that night after Det. Cromwell had first provided him with a photographic array depicting an image of Alexis Rose in conjunction with images of five additional individuals of similar appearance that he had generated through use of the photo services tab of the e-JusticeNY portal. Upon meeting with Mr. Perez at approximately 1:29 AM on March 6, 2021 in the squad room of the YPD Headquarters, Sgt. Lugo read instructions aloud and provided him with the single sheet of paper that reflected the photographic array that Det. Cromwell had prepared earlier, upon which Mr. Roman drew a circle around the image of Alexis Rose which he initialed, and he wrote "Number 2 is [the] guyl have seen driving bmw before around house", as well as his signature, "03/06/21" and "1:29 AM", which was admitted into evidence during this proceeding as People's Exhibit 4B.
Subsequently, at approximately 3:33 PM on March 8, 2021, Det. Cromwell presented an affidavit in support of a search warrant to Judge Thomas Quinones of the Yonkers City Court, who signed a search warrant order authorizing the YPD to conduct a search of the contents of two safes and a lockbox that were recovered from a bedroom within 4007 Hill Avenue in the Bronx. On March 10, 2021, Det. Hollywood presented a search warrant return to Judge Quinones of the Yonkers City Court, upon which he had written that this search warrant had been executed on March 6, 2021. When confronted with this discrepancy, Det. Hollywood testified that his notation indicating that the search warrant for the safes and lockbox had been executed on March 6, 2021 was erroneous, as he had actually executed the search warrant on March 8, 2021.
Turning first to consider that branch of the defendant's suppression application concerning...
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