People v. Martin

163 Misc. 2d 799, 622 N.Y.S.2d 665, 1994 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 622
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 20, 1994
StatusPublished

This text of 163 Misc. 2d 799 (People v. Martin) 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. Martin, 163 Misc. 2d 799, 622 N.Y.S.2d 665, 1994 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 622 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Charles J. Thomas, J.

Defendant moves, in an omnibus motion, for certain pretrial relief. The court has considered defendant’s moving papers, the People’s response, the minutes of the Grand Jury proceedings and the court file in this case and renders the following decision.

Defendant’s request for Sandoval relief as well as notice of instances of prior uncharged criminal vicious or immoral acts which the People have knowledge of and intend to use at trial is reserved for the trial court.

Defendant’s request for a bill of particulars and discovery are deemed demands pursuant to CPL 100.45, 200.95 and 240.20. The People are reminded of their obligation under Brady v Maryland (373 US 83).

Defendant’s motion to suppress physical evidence allegedly seized from defendant is granted to the extent that a Mapp hearing is ordered which shall be held prior to trial.

Defendant’s motion for a Huntley hearing is granted and shall be conducted prior to trial.

Defendant’s motion to suppress prospective identification testimony is granted to the extent of ordering a Wade hearing to be conducted prior to trial.

The court grants defendant’s motion to inspect and has read the Grand Jury minutes in camera. When viewed in the light most favorable to the People, the evidence adduced before the Grand Jury both direct and circumstantial was legally sufficient to establish the finding of counts 2 through 11 of the indictment (People v Deegan, 69 NY2d 976; People v Calbud, Inc., 49 NY2d 389). Moreover, the Assistant District Attorney correctly charged the Grand Jury with respect to the applicable law, and the proceeding before the Grand Jury was proper in all other respects as to those counts.

The first count, however, charges defendant with attempted murder in the first degree as follows: "The defendant, on or about September 11, 1994, being eighteen years old and more, with intent to cause the death of another person, to wit: Detective Michael Padilla, attempted to cause the death of such person, by means of shooting a firearm in the direction of [801]*801Detective Michael Padilla, and further the said Detective Michael Padilla was a police officer, who was in the course of performing his official duties, and the defendant knew or reasonably should have known that the said detective Michael Padilla was a police officer.”

The evidence presented before the Grand Jury established that at about 12:00 a.m. on the morning of September 11, 1994 Norma Gonzalez, a Transit Authority police officer, was at a family party for her grandmother. When she and her three children approached the elevator to leave the apartment building, she was stopped by three individuals who claimed to have had some kind of disagreement with her young son a short time earlier. The individuals said they were going to shoot them and began cursing. Ms. Gonzalez returned to the apartment and asked a relative to get her cousin, Michael Padilla, who is a detective for the New York City Police Department. Michael Padilla came out of the apartment to escort Ms. Gonzalez, her children and her boyfriend to her car. The three individuals continued to follow and threaten them as Ms. Gonzalez left the apartment building. When she reached her car she saw three other cousins arriving for the party. The three individuals continued their threats and began to threaten Ms. Gonzalez’s three cousins as well. One of the individuals, a taller male, wearing a dark colored shirt with white stripes approached within five feet of the car and threatened Ms. Gonzalez and her family with a two-by-four piece of wood.

The following testimony was then adduced from Ms. Gonzalez:

"[M]y cousin said, if you don’t leave, I am calling the police officer. If you don’t leave in two seconds I am gonna shoot you.
"q. Now, when you say that your cousin said that, are we speaking about Detective Padilla?
"a. Yes.
"q. How far was this young man from Detective Padilla? Did he say, I am a police officer when he said that?
"a. About from here to here, a feet — maybe five feet.
"q. Can you tell us do you know whether or not Detective Padilla actually had a weapon on him that night?
"a. He did not have a weapon on him that night.
"q. And once Detective Padilla stated, I am a police officer, what happened?
[802]*802"a. He put his hand in his pocket, made motion like he had a gun and the guy ran around the building.” (Transcript, at 11-12.)
"q. Describe to the Jury exactly what you saw at the same time you said you heard the shots fired, what did you see?
"a. First, I heard someone saying, hey those are cops over there. And then, group yelling, if you are cops show us what you have, show us your weapon. That is when we decided to go around the car, the group of kids was still in front of us * * *
"Michael turns to go make the phone call and at that point —oh before, we — when he turns that is when the shots are fired.” (Transcript, at 13.)
"q. Were you able to see the person who was holding the gun?
"a. No * * *
"q. Did the detective then go make a phone call to the Police?
"a. Yes.” (Transcript, at 14.)

The law is clear that there are two essential elements which distinguish this crime from attempted murder in the second degree. The first is that the police officer must be acting in the course of performing his official duties and secondly that defendant knew or reasonably should have known that the intended victim was a police officer. These elements reflect the Legislature’s intent to "increase the penalty for the attempted murder of a peace officer in the line of duty”, in an effort to counteract the "then-current spate of assassination attempts against uniformed officers acting in the line of duty [and the Legislature’s desire to] provide these officers with an extra measure of public support and protection by increasing the penalty for such attempts”. (People v Harris, 67 AD2d 665, 666, 667.)

Thus, in People v Davis (43 NY2d 17), the Court rejected the People’s contention that an officer for the Yonkers Police Department, who was in plain clothes on his way to report for duty trying to leave a grocery store, was acting in the line of duty when he was shot. In that case there was no question that the officer had identified himself as a police officer and that he was shot during a robbery.

Regarding the second element, the Court, in People v Flores (162 AD2d 464), held that there was sufficient evidence of [803]*803defendant’s scienter where the evidence established that "during the altercation Officer Mazone’s police shield was revealed, he announced 'Police’, and he drew his service revolver. Moreover, upon seeing the police shield, the officer testified that the defendant exclaimed, 'He’s a cop, pop him’ ” (supra, at 465).

Likewise, in People v Woods

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Related

Brady v. Maryland
373 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1963)
People v. Davis
371 N.E.2d 456 (New York Court of Appeals, 1977)
People v. Calbud, Inc.
402 N.E.2d 1140 (New York Court of Appeals, 1980)
In re District Attorney
448 N.E.2d 440 (New York Court of Appeals, 1983)
People v. Deegan
509 N.E.2d 345 (New York Court of Appeals, 1987)
People v. Harris
67 A.D.2d 665 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1979)
Ruggiero v. Fahey
103 A.D.2d 65 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1984)
People v. Woods
141 A.D.2d 684 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1988)
People v. Flores
162 A.D.2d 464 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
163 Misc. 2d 799, 622 N.Y.S.2d 665, 1994 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 622, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-martin-nysupct-1994.