People v. Herner

156 Misc. 2d 735, 594 N.Y.S.2d 544, 1993 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 54
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 26, 1993
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 156 Misc. 2d 735 (People v. Herner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Herner, 156 Misc. 2d 735, 594 N.Y.S.2d 544, 1993 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 54 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Richard C. Wesley, J.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant William Anthony Herner is charged under indictment No. 960/91 with two counts of murder in the second degree; one count of assault in the first degree; two counts of robbery in the first degree; one count of criminal trespass in the third degree; and one count of menacing. Defendant has moved for suppression of tangible property, of statements, and of identifications. Pursuant to a June 10, 1992 decision and order of this court, suppression hearings were held August 27-28 and December 17, 1992. For the reasons set forth below, defendant’s motions to suppress are denied, except as to the last page of his statement concerning the Stewart Street shootings.

FACTS

On November 3, 1991, Rochester Police Department (RPD) Detective Casper J. Caceci interviewed a clerk who was on duty at Sal’s Birdland Restaurant when it was robbed on October 26, 1991. From a photo array, the clerk identified [737]*737defendant as the robber, and gave a sworn statement to that effect. Detective Caceci conveyed the information to then-Lieutenant Robert Goldfinger, the staff duty officer on November 3rd.

The same day, RPD Investigator Terrance Sheridan became aware of the information developed by Detective Caceci. He obtained defendant’s last known address from RPD’s Edicon automated video identification system. Investigator Sheridan went to that address, 267 Elmdorf Avenue, that afternoon, and spoke to defendant’s mother Helen Hannah. She told Sheridan that defendant did not reside there, but that he "sneaks into her garage from time to time * * * without her permission”. That evening, Sheridan telephoned RPD Sergeant John Prewasnicak, the supervisor on duty on the midnight shift of the Genesee Section (which included Elmdorf Avenue). Sheridan told Prewasnicak that they were looking for a subject wanted in an armed robbery, and that they had information that the subject on occasion hid out in his parents’ garage at 267 Elmdorf Avenue.

Sergeant Prewasnicak testified that at about 6:20 a.m. the next day, he participated in the arrest of defendant. He recalled Investigator Sheridan having told him on the telephone that defendant was wanted for a robbery, "and that he probably would be in the garage at 267 Elmdorf Avenue”. The officers proceeded directly to the garage without stopping at the house. The door of the garage was closed; the window on the right side of the garage was boarded up. Sergeant Prewasnicak and Officer Cedric Felton proceeded to the rear of the garage, which had a window frame from which (they testified) the entire window had been removed. The police officers used their flashlights to look inside and saw a man lying on a couch. The officers testified that, other than the couch, there was no furniture inside the garage, only bicycles, tools, and other "clutter” that one would expect to find in a garage.

Sergeant Prewasnicak indicated that the man on the couch was waking up and looked at him. Sergeant Prewasnicak inquired, "William?”; defendant responded, "Yeah.” Sergeant Prewasnicak told defendant that he was under arrest for robbery. He went into the garage through the window frame with his gun drawn. Defendant was allowed to put on his clothes, and was handcuffed. Sergeant Prewasnicak had defendant show him where the lock was on the garage door. The Sergeant raised the door. Officer Felton escorted defendant to Officer Felton’s vehicle.

[738]*738After Officer Felton transported defendant to the Public Safety Building, Sergeant Prewasnicak allowed defendant to use the bathroom. Thereafter, the Sergeant left defendant handcuffed to a table in an interview room, at approximately 6:40 a.m. Defendant did not appear to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. Neither Sergeant Prewasnicak nor anyone else in his presence ever threatened defendant or made promises to him. Defendant never requested a lawyer or indicated that he did not want to talk to the police. The testimony of Officer Felton and Officer Ronald L. Bryant concerning the arrest and transportation of defendant and defendant’s condition was consistent with Sergeant Prewasnicak’s testimony.

RPD Investigator Terrance W. Coleman testified that he entered the defendant’s interview room about 8:05 a.m. that day. He introduced himself and his partner Detective Gordon Hall, and told defendant that they "were there to investigate and talk to him about an incident that occurred where two people were killed and one person was shot and wounded and to discuss with him several other robberies that he had been implicated in by a Mr. Brian Morton”. He then advised defendant of his constitutional rights. Defendant indicated he understood them, and agreed to waive his rights and talk to them. From 8:10 a.m. to 9:20 A.M., Coleman and his partner talked to defendant regarding information they had obtained from Mr. Morton implicating defendant in several robberies in the Rochester area.

Although defendant initially denied participating in any of the crimes, he soon began to discuss his involvement in various robberies. Among other things, he indicated that he had been involved in a robbery at a "Sugar Creek” store on Scottsville Road. Neither Coleman nor his partner was familiar with a Sugar Creek store on Scottsville Road. They left the room, walked across the hall to crimes analysis, and retrieved a stack of at least 40 files concerning robberies that had occurred during August, September and October of 1991. They went through the stack with defendant, determined that the convenience store was really an "A-Plus” store, and used some of the other files to help defendant identify other robberies in which he had participated.

Ultimately, in addition to the A-Plus and Sal’s Birdland robberies, defendant admitted his involvement in a robbery of a Wegman’s store, and a robbery of a CVS drugstore, both on Mt. Hope Avenue. The investigators then questioned defen[739]*739dant about Mr. Morton’s possession of a .22 rifle, which defendant had seen Morton shoot into a garage at 12 Fenwick Street.

Investigator Coleman then began taking depositions from defendant. A deposition regarding the .22 rifle was completed at about 9:40 a.m. Coleman then interviewed defendant further until approximately 10:00 a.m. A deposition concerning the Wegman’s beer robbery was completed at approximately 10:20 a.m. After a five-minute break for defendant to use the bathroom, Coleman took a deposition concerning the Sal’s Birdland robbery. This deposition was completed at about 11:00 a.m.

At 11:00 a.m., Investigator Coleman, who had been joined by Investigator Barnes, began talking to defendant about the CVS robbery. Defendant initially denied having gone into the CVS store. At approximately 11:35 a.m., the officers learned from other police officers that defendant’s fingerprint had been found on a package of razor blades that had been left on the counter by the person who had robbed the store. At that point, defendant admitted he had gone into the CVS store. He then put his head in his hands and said nothing for about a minute.

Without any other prompting, defendant then stated, "I didn’t shoot anybody,” two or three times. Although Coleman had already mentioned the shootings of three people, he, his partner and Barnes asked defendant, "What are you talking about?” Investigator Coleman then took a statement from defendant regarding the shootings at 41 Stewart Street. The statement started at 11:40 A.M., and was concluded at 12:30 P.M.

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Related

People v. Van Houten
177 Misc. 2d 94 (New York County Courts, 1998)
People v. Burdo
690 N.E.2d 854 (New York Court of Appeals, 1997)
People v. Herner
212 A.D.2d 1042 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1995)
State v. Solberg
861 P.2d 460 (Washington Supreme Court, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
156 Misc. 2d 735, 594 N.Y.S.2d 544, 1993 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 54, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-herner-nysupct-1993.