Herrera v. Kelly

667 F. Supp. 963, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7959
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedAugust 31, 1987
DocketNo. CV-87-1314
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 667 F. Supp. 963 (Herrera v. Kelly) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Herrera v. Kelly, 667 F. Supp. 963, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7959 (E.D.N.Y. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

GLASSER, District Judge:

I. Introduction

Petitioner Carlos A. Herrera was convicted, after a jury trial in the New York State Supreme Court for Suffolk County, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree, N.Y. Penal Law § 220.43 (McKinney 1980), and conspiracy in the second degree, id. § 105.15 (McKinney Supp. 1987). The trial court sentenced Herrera to concurrent sentences of imprisonment: twenty-five years to life on the narcotics charge and eight and one-third to fifteen years on the conspiracy charge. Judgment of conviction was entered on July 13, 1984. On July 15, 1985, the appellate division affirmed the conviction. People v. Herrara [sic], 112 A.D.2d 315, 491 N.Y.S.2d 763 (2d Dep’t 1985) (per curiam). Judge Meyer of the New York Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal on December 23, 1985. This petition for a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (1982), followed.

The petition raises three points: (1) the Suffolk County District Court lacked jurisdiction to issue a search warrant with respect to an automobile located in Nassau County; execution of the warrant and seizure of evidence thereunder violated Herrera’s rights under the fourth and fourteenth amendments; (2) Herrera’s fourth amendment rights were violated again when he was arrested without a warrant as he slept in his motel room and the police seized a wrapped package of cocaine from an overnight bag; and (3) Herrera’s rights under the sixth amendment’s confrontation clause were violated when the trial court permitted undercover agents to testify about an out-of-court statement by alleged coconspirator Jack Bailey that Herrera was the “main guy” behind the drug sale.

II. Background

Herrera was indicted with four other defendants: Jack D. Bailey, Rufus F. Faulk[965]*965ner a/k/a Michael, Robert M. Leger, and Linda Spangle. The indictment arose from an investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice into illicit sales of cocaine.

In the summer of 1983, Detective Joseph Avella of the Suffolk County Police and Michael Yaniello of the DEA commenced negotiations for the purchase of cocaine from their contacts, Faulkner and Spangle. The State’s version of the facts is as follows. Bailey, an associate of Faulkner, had met Herrera in South Miami, Florida, at the home of a mutual friend, Daniel Peele. Herrera told Bailey he could provide a large quantity of cocaine. On September 27, 1983, Herrera called Peele from the Midway Hotel in New York City and asked him to come north to complete the drug deal that had been discussed in Florida. Peele called Leger to say that he had heard from Herrera and that they should go to New York immediately. On the next day, Spangle called Special Agent Yaniello to say that the deal was ready and that Faulkner would contact him the following day.

On September 29, at about 9:00 a.m., Faulkner called Special Agent Yaniello and said he would be arriving at Islip McArthur Airport later that evening. Faulkner told the agent that he represented individuals who had forty kilograms of cocaine, of which twenty were for sale, and that Special Agent Yaniello should make reservations for Faulkner at the Old Mill Inn, near the airport.

Later that day, a judge of the Suffolk County Court granted an application for a wiretap and authorized electronic surveillance of room 245 of the Old Mill Inn. Other undercover agents were situated in an adjoining room for surveillance purposes.

At approximately 8:05 p.m., Special Agent Yaniello and Detective Avella, still in their undercover capacity, met Faulkner at the airport and were introduced to Bailey. The four went to room 245 to discuss the sale of cocaine. In order to permit Bailey and Faulkner to go to New York City that night and discuss the logistics of the deal with their associates, it was agreed that Bailey and Faulkner would meet again with Yaniello and Avella at 9:00 o’clock on the morning of the next day, September 30.

Meanwhile, Leger and Peele, now located at the Metropole Hotel in Flushing, Queens, New York, contacted Herrera at his Queens location by use of a telephone beeper. He came to the Metropole with an associate called “Carlito.” Herrera placed a kilogram of cocaine, wrapped in hard fiberglass tape, on the table, and he, Peele, and Leger snorted a small quantity. Herrera then directed that this kilogram should be “fronted” to the prospective buyers as a sample of the larger shipment.

When Herrera and Carlito left, Leger called Bailey and Faulkner at the Old Mill Inn and asked that they come to New York to firm up the details of the deal. Faulkner and Bailey arrived at the Metropole at approximately 11:30 p.m., and they participated in inconclusive discussions about whether it would be better to consummate the transaction on Long Island or in New York City.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. on September 30, Agent Yaniello called Faulkner at the Old Mill Inn and discussed the quantity and location of the proposed deal. They agreed that a face-to-face meeting would be appropriate, and Agent Yaniello and Detective Avella arrived at the hotel at about 10:00 a.m. There, they spoke for approximately fifteen minutes with Bailey and Faulkner, who repeated that the proposed deal was for fifteen kilograms but insisted that they were acting only as intermediaries for the “other side,” who would require a meeting place in New York City.

Yaniello suggested that the parties agree on a middle ground on Long Island, and Bailey and Faulkner agreed to go back to their associates with this suggestion. When Agent Yaniello complained that the seller’s agents had not shown good faith or any indication that they had cocaine to sell, Bailey and Faulkner produced a kilogram of cocaine as a demonstration of the quali[966]*966ty of the merchandise involved. The discussion ended with Yaniello giving Faulkner $200 to pay for his and Bailey’s cab ride to Queens.

After the undercover agents left the Old Mill Inn, Bailey called Leger at the Metro-pole Hotel to tell him about the problem concerning the site for the deal. Meanwhile, Yaniello and Avella went to the Suffolk County Police Department to obtain a laboratory analysis of the cocaine sample they had received from Bailey and Faulkner.

During the afternoon of September 30, Bailey and Faulkner went to the Metropole Hotel and spoke with Peele and Leger about the proposed meeting place for the transaction. After Herrera arrived at the Metropole, it was agreed that a compromise meeting place in one of the motels near exit 46 on the Long Island Expressway would be appropriate. Herrera said that “Queens is hot” for this type of transaction.

Herrera gave Bailey and Faulkner a yellow Chevrolet for use in travelling between Queens and Long Island. He also provided a second kilogram of cocaine for “fronting” to the prospective buyers and directed Bailey and Faulkner to collect the money due on the first kilogram previously provided. The group snorted several grams of cocaine from the second kilogram and Herrera left. Bailey and Faulkner also left, returning to the Old Mill Inn.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
667 F. Supp. 963, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7959, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/herrera-v-kelly-nyed-1987.