People v. Whitfield

• Citation: 129 N.Y.S.3d 532,186 A.D.3d 1414
• Decision Date: 16 September 2020
• Docket Number: 2018–02130,Ind.No. 1155/16
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Keanu WHITFIELD, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

186 A.D.3d 1414
129 N.Y.S.3d 532

The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent,
v.
Keanu WHITFIELD, Appellant.

2018–02130
Ind.No. 1155/16

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Submitted - May 28, 2020
September 16, 2020

129 N.Y.S.3d 533

Janet E. Sabel, New York, N.Y. (Ellen Dille of counsel), for appellant.

Melinda Katz, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (Johnnette Traill, Ellen C. Abbott, and Charles T. Pollak of counsel), for respondent.

ALAN D. SCHEINKMAN, P.J., ROBERT J. MILLER, JOSEPH J. MALTESE, BETSY BARROS, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

186 A.D.3d 1414

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Ronald D. Hollie, J.), rendered January 3, 2018, convicting him of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal possession of a firearm, and attempted tampering with physical evidence, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing, of that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to suppress physical evidence.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

On December 23, 2015, police officers observed a vehicle bearing out-of-state license plates accelerate quickly and attain a speed approaching twice the posted speed limit in a residential neighborhood. The officers activated the lights and sirens on their vehicle and attempted to stop the offending vehicle for a traffic violation. However, the vehicle did not stop and continued by making a left turn without signaling onto another street. The police officers followed and, although they briefly lost sight of the vehicle, after they had traveled less than two blocks, they located the vehicle parked in front of the defendant's house. The police officers observed two individuals exit the vehicle and run toward the back of the defendant's house. The defendant's house is surrounded by a fence, which had an open gate. A police officer briefly entered the property through the open gate in an effort to locate the driver of the vehicle. While the police officer was standing on the driveway near the back of the defendant's house, he observed the defendant open a side door to his house, look around, and throw a pair of gym shorts over the back fence of the property and onto the adjoining property. The officer heard the defendant utter a profanity and observed a firearm coming out of the gym shorts as it flew through the air.

The fenced-in portion of the property where the police officer was standing when he observed the defendant throw the gun, which was in close proximity to the defendant's home, was part of the

129 N.Y.S.3d 534...