People v. Brownridge

120 Misc. 2d 1028, 466 N.Y.S.2d 999, 1983 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3844
CourtCriminal Court of the City of New York
DecidedAugust 23, 1983
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 120 Misc. 2d 1028 (People v. Brownridge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Criminal Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Brownridge, 120 Misc. 2d 1028, 466 N.Y.S.2d 999, 1983 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3844 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1983).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Lawrence J. Finnegan, J.

This is a motion by the defendant, William Brownridge, for summary suppression of statements and identification testimony.

A brief chronology of the relevant events and motion practice is as follows:

May 4, 1983. The defendant is arraigned on the instant felony complaint.

May 18,1983. Charges are reduced to misdemeanors. At the request of defendant the following motion schedule was adopted.

Motions by May 25, 1983.

District Attorney’s response by June 1, 1983.

Court’s decision by June 9, 1983.

[1029]*1029May 26,1983. The defendant’s omnibus motion is served on the court.

June 9, 1983. Court renders its decision on the defendant’s motion without response by the People and orders a Wade-Huntley-type hearing.

The People serve a response to the defendant’s request for a bill of particulars and demand for discovery dated June 2, 1983. The defendant serves the instant motion for summary suppression.

June 13, 1983. The People serve their response to the instant motion.

The above scenario is notable, not because it represents the exception, but rather a sequence slightly superior to the standard set by daily motion practice as displayed in the criminal courts.

Many times, on a daily basis, the court prepares motion schedules which are rarely, if ever, observed. The result is that the court signs dozens of orders on pretrial motions without the benefit of a response by the People, and with little more than a clue as to what issues, if any, are presented therein. This court has ignored the relevant statutes within the Criminal Procedure Law in the interests of due process, and to avoid the threatened gridlock that hangs like a sword over the court’s head.

This state of motion practice reached new depths during the recent strike by the Legal Aid Society when the courts were swamped with pages and pages of Xeroxed and word-processed boiler plate motions requesting all forms of relief whether relevant, comical or truly frivolous. Surely there was one prostitute or turnstile jumper in the country who was not detected through the use of hypnosis or electronic surveillance equipment. Yet motions to suppress such evidence brazenly wheedled their way into the motion papers of assigned counsel regardless of how inappropriate they may have been. One might wonder whether some members of the 18-B panel were being paid by the hour or by the pound for motions prepared.

The District Attorney’s response to all of this was not to respond at all. A practice which the People have found so effective that it has been continued beyond the settlement [1030]*1030of the Legal Aid strike and now is almost universally employed even when faced with routine and statutorily requested discovery.

Into this morass appears the occasional motion for preclusion and the newest variety, the motion for summary suppression, the instant motion. The court notes that the former, initially viewed with approval, lost all credibility when it was abused by overanxious defense counsel who routinely served them, either at the same time as the original motions, or long before the People’s response was due. The latter is viewed not with anticipation, but as an opportunity for the court to put a halt to this slow strangulation of the standards listed within the Criminal Procedure Law.

THE LAW

Motions to suppress and the procedure by which they are brought are controlled by CPL article 710. This article mandates that prior to trial these motions must be made in writing, and that the legal grounds for such motions be supported by factual allegations contained within sworn affidavits. The People are then afforded an opportunity to respond to these motions. CPL 710.60 (subd 1) states in pertinent part “The people may file with the court * * * an answer denying or admitting any or all of the allegations of the moving papers”, and if on the basis of those papers, the court is unable to decide the motion, a hearing must be conducted. In all other situations, the court must summarily grant or deny the motion (see CPL 710.60, subd 2, pars [a], [b]).

In recent years, appellate courts have interpreted these and other very similar statutes while setting the minimum standards of acceptable motion practice in criminal cases.

In the companion cases of People v Gruden and People v Frazier (42 NY2d 214), the Court of Appeals first attempted to restore order to the havoc created by the procedural shortcuts adopted in Westchester County. In those cases, the court was presented with motions to dismiss pursuant to CPL 30.30 and 210.45, and the People submitted no response, nor did they dispute the allegations contained within the defendants’ moving papers. Instead, as [1031]*1031was customary in the county at that time, they merely consented to a hearing.

Moreover, the court made note that the statutory procedure which it was interpreting was not peculiar to motions to dismiss. As the court stated (supra, p 216): “The same standard applies in those sections dealing with motions to suppress (CPL 710.60, subd 2, par [b]), motions to set aside a verdict (CPL 330.40, subd 2, par [d]) and motions to vacate a judgment or set aside a sentence (CPL 440.30, subd 3, par [c]). In short it is the standard procedure to be followed in connection with nearly every pretrial and post-trial motion made in a criminal action.”

The Court of Appeals also determined the legislative intent of the statutes which controlled criminal motion practice, and specifically rejected a literal interpretation of these sections and the apparent permissive nature of the People’s duty to respond to defense motions. The court stated (supra, p 216): “ ‘[Ljiteral interpretation of the statutory language could have a catastrophic effect on motion practice in all criminal cases. The court’s power to grant motions on the papers will be virtually abolished. Even though the facts alleged warrant the relief sought * * * the court must hold a hearing before granting the motion if the prosecutor decides that he will not expressly concede the facts alleged. No statute should be interpreted that literally.”

Finally, the court adopted a policy for deciding on similar cases, and by so doing provided guidance for lower courts. The court stated (supra, p 216): “Normally what is not disputed is deemed to be conceded. Generally a party opposing a motion cannot arbitrarily demand a hearing to conduct a fishing expedition. The courts should not assume that the Legislature intended to establish such a useless and wasteful procedure.”

In People v Ciaccio (47 NY2d 431), the Court of Appeals was again presented with the dilemma of a District Attorney failing to respond to a motion (to set aside a verdict pursuant to CPL 330.40); the court concluded that although the People had not expressly conceded the truth of the defendant’s factual allegations, their failure to even controvert the allegations must be viewed as an implied [1032]*1032concession, and summarily granted the motion without a hearing.

More recently, in People v Weaver

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Related

Matter of T.J.O.
2006 NY Slip Op 26303 (Rockland Family Court, 2006)
In re T.J.O.
13 Misc. 3d 401 (NYC Family Court, 2006)
People v. Landfair
191 A.D.2d 825 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
120 Misc. 2d 1028, 466 N.Y.S.2d 999, 1983 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3844, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-brownridge-nycrimct-1983.