People v. Crippen

2017 NY Slip Op 8552, 156 A.D.3d 946, 67 N.Y.S.3d 320
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedDecember 7, 2017
Docket107763
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2017 NY Slip Op 8552 (People v. Crippen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State 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. Crippen, 2017 NY Slip Op 8552, 156 A.D.3d 946, 67 N.Y.S.3d 320 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Lynch, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Schenectady County (Milano, J.), rendered February 27, 2015, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of assault in the second degree, aggravated criminal contempt, criminal contempt in the first degree, criminal contempt in the second degree, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration in the second degree.

On March 4, 2014, the police responded to a 911 call regarding a woman who had been stabbed at 779 Albany Street in the City of Schenectady, Schenectady County. When they arrived, they found the victim with a large laceration on her right leg. The victim reported that her boyfriend—defendant— inflicted the wound. A police officer working private security at 799 Albany Street suspected that defendant may have gone to his mother’s apartment at that location. The police went to defendant’s mother’s apartment, attempted without success to obtain consent to enter and, after confirming that defendant was in the apartment, forcefully entered and, after a struggle, arrested him.

Defendant was indicted and, following pretrial Huntley/Wade and Payton hearings, was convicted by a jury of assault in the second degree, aggravated criminal contempt, criminal contempt in the first degree, criminal contempt in the second degree, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration in the second degree. County Court thereafter imposed concurrent prison terms of six years, to be followed by three years of postrelease supervision, for defendant’s conviction of assault in the second degree, 2 to 6 years for his conviction of aggravated criminal contempt and IV3 to 4 years for his conviction of criminal contempt in the first degree, and, for each of the remaining convictions, he received concurrent one-year jail terms. Defendant now appeals.

Initially, defendant contends that County Court erred in finding that he did not have standing to challenge his warrantless arrest as unlawful based upon Payton v New York (445 US 573 [1980]). “It is axiomatic that warrantless entries into a home to make an arrest are presumptively unreasonable” (People v McBride, 14 NY3d 440, 445 [2010] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]; see People v Nicholas, 118 AD3d 1183, 1187 [2014], lv denied 24 NY3d 1122 [2015]). In order to establish standing to allege a violation of one’s Fourth Amendment rights, a defendant “must demonstrate a legitimate expectation of privacy” in premises belonging to another “e.g., an overnight guest or a familial or other socially recognized relationship” (People v Ortiz, 83 NY2d 840, 842 [1994] [citation omitted]).

The evidence at the suppression hearing included defendant’s sworn statement that, although the apartment at 799 Albany Street where he was arrested was in his mother’s name, he slept overnight there three to four times each week, showered, ate, watched television, kept clothing and toiletries there and invited guests to the apartment. At the hearing, officer Sean Clifford testified that he was working security at 799 Albany Street when he heard a radio dispatch that the victim had been stabbed nearby and that her boyfriend was a possible suspect. Based on his work in the building and neighborhood, Clifford knew the victim and was aware that she had an “on again off again” relationship with defendant. Clifford also testified that he went to defendant’s mother’s apartment to look for defendant because he was aware that defendant would spend time there. Another police officer, Christopher Scaccia, testified that he responded to 799 Albany Street because Clifford advised that he “knows [defendant] to stay there” with his mother. In our view, although the mother “owns” the apartment, there is no dispute in the record with regard to defendant’s regular presence at his mother’s apartment, including as an overnight guest. We therefore find that County Court erred in its determination that defendant lacked standing to assert a Payton challenge (see Minnesota v Olson, 495 US 91, 96-97 [1990]; People v Mason, 248 AD2d 751, 753 [1998]; compare People v Hill, 153 AD3d 413, 416 [2017]; People v Perretti, 278 AD2d 597, 599 [2000], lv denied 96 NY2d 762 [2001]).

Although defendant had standing to challenge the warrant-less arrest, we find that County Court properly dismissed defendant’s motion on the merits. Where “there is probable cause, the police may proceed without a warrant to effectuate an arrest within a home if exigent circumstances exist to justify a warrantless entry” (People v McBride, 14 NY3d at 445; see People v Levan, 62 NY2d 139, 144 [1984]). In general, we consider certain factors to determine whether exigent circumstances may exist, including “(1) the gravity or violent nature of the offense with which the suspect is to be charged; (2) whether the suspect is reasonably believed to be armed; (3) a clear showing of probable cause ... to believe that the suspect committed the crime; (4) [a] strong reason to believe that the suspect is in the premises being entered; (5) a likelihood that the suspect will escape if not swiftly apprehended; and (6) the peaceful circumstances of the entry” (People v McBride, 14 NY3d at 446 [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]). Further, a warrant is not necessary where there is a situation that requires the police to provide assistance; that is, the police may proceed into a home without a warrant provided that “[t]he police . . . have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an emergency at hand and an immediate need for their assistance for the protection of life or property . . . [and] [t]here must be some reasonable basis, approximating probable cause, to associate the emergency with the area or place to be searched” (People v Musto, 106 AD3d 1380, 1381 [2013] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted], lv denied 21 NY3d 1007 [2013]; see Brigham City v Stuart, 547 US 398, 404-405 [2006]).

At the suppression hearing, Clifford testified that he knew defendant, the victim and defendant’s mother and was aware that there was a history of violence between defendant and both women. When Clifford first arrived at the mother’s apartment, he noticed what he believed to be new puncture holes in the door that appeared to be made with the tip of a knife. When Clifford knocked on the door, he could hear the mother whispering with an adult male who, based on his experience, Clifford believed to be defendant. According to Clifford, it “sounded . . . like someone was leading [the mother] or telling her what to say.” Clifford called for assistance and, in addition to Scac-cia, officers Michael Dalton and Ryan Kent and others responded. All of the officers at the scene were aware that the victim had been stabbed with a knife. Kent testified that when he arrived, a woman in the hallway indicated that defendant had just gone inside his mother’s apartment. When Clifford was unable to convince the mother to voluntarily open the door, he used a master key to unlock the door to determine whether “everything was okay,” but each time he unlocked the door to open it slightly, it was shoved closed and locked again from the inside. Based on the amount of force against the door from the inside, Clifford believed that it was defendant who was pushing the door closed. At one point, the officers were able to push the door open wide enough to allow them to see inside, and both Kent and Dalton testified that they observed defendant brandishing a knife.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2017 NY Slip Op 8552, 156 A.D.3d 946, 67 N.Y.S.3d 320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-crippen-nyappdiv-2017.