People v. Pagan

76 A.D.2d 414, 906 N.Y.S.2d 37

This text of 76 A.D.2d 414 (People v. Pagan) 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. Pagan, 76 A.D.2d 414, 906 N.Y.S.2d 37 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

[415]*415Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Denis J. Boyle, J.), entered on or about January 29, 2009, which enlarged the conditions of defendant’s sentence of probation to permit searches of his home, concomitant with home visits by the Department of Probation (DOP), affirmed.

Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. Pursuant to the plea agreement, he was sentenced on June 5, 2008 to six months in jail and five years’ probation. Approximately three months after sentence was imposed, DOP applied to the court for an enlargement of the conditions of defendant’s probation pursuant to CPL 410.20. By the application, which defendant opposed through counsel, DOP sought permission to search defendant’s home during his probationary term.

In considering the application, the court weighed the following factors: (a) defendant’s violation of the conditions of a probationary sentence imposed on a prior conviction, resulting in the revocation of probation and the imposition of a jail sentence; (b) defendant’s possession of a firearm during a confrontation with another man as the backdrop of the instant prosecution; (c) defendant’s report to DOP of “psychological problems” for which he had been medicated three years prior to sentencing; and (d) the presence of a young child in defendant’s household. The court granted the application to the extent of enlarging the conditions of defendant’s probation so as to permit DOP to conduct sporadic, nondestructive, “knock-and-announce” searches of defendant’s home at reasonable hours when defendant is at home. The court found the enlarged conditions to be consistent with the rehabilitative ends of probation and the safety of defendant’s household. Upon consideration of the nature and purpose of probation, as set forth in the relevant statutory framework discussed below, we hold that a sentencing court is not precluded from imposing search conditions in a sentence of probation without a defendant’s consent. Accordingly, the court properly enlarged the conditions of defendant’s probation.

Defendant does not challenge the court’s factual findings. He argues instead that absent a probationer’s consent, his or her [416]*416place of residence may only be searched by court order issued pursuant to CPL 410.50 (3). This statute provides for the issuance of an order for the search of the person, residence or real property of a probationer “[i]f at any time during the period of probation the court has reasonable cause to believe that the defendant has violated a condition of the sentence.” We find this argument unavailing. The intention of the Legislature is first to be gleaned from a literal reading of the act, and may also be ascertained from all of the statutes relating to the same general subject matter, i.e., probation in this case (see McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 1, Statutes § 92 [b]). In this regard, we note that CPL 410.50 (3) does not purport to be the only vehicle for a probation officer’s search of a probationer’s person, residence or real property.

The purpose of probation is “to insure that the defendant will lead a law-abiding life or to assist him to do so” (see Penal Law § 65.10 [1]). To this end, a probationer is required to satisfy, where applicable, 14 specific conditions enumerated by section 65.10 as well as “any other conditions reasonably related to his rehabilitation” (§ 65.10 [2] [Z]). In addition, a sentencing court may “require that the defendant comply with any other reasonable condition as the court shall determine to be necessary or appropriate to ameliorate the conduct which gave rise to the offense or to prevent the incarceration of the defendant” (§ 65.10 [5]). The policy reason for giving a court this supervisory discretion is that a state’s probation system, like a school, government office or prison, presents “special needs” beyond normal law enforcement that may justify departures from the usual probable-cause and warrant requirements (Griffin v Wisconsin, 483 US 868, 873-874 [1987]). In this state, courts exercise their supervisory authority over probationers pursuant to CPL 410.50 (1), which provides that “[a] person who is under a sentence of probation is in the legal custody of the court that imposed it pending expiration or termination of the period of the sentence.”

CPL 410.20 gives a court the power to modify or enlarge the conditions of a sentence of probation. The statute does not require an evidentiary hearing or a finding of a violation of previously imposed conditions as a prerequisite to enlarging the conditions imposed at the time of sentence; all that is required is a personal appearance by the defendant to assure that the defendant has properly been made aware of the additional requirement or restriction (Preiser, Practice Commentaries, McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 11A, CPL 410.20). Article 65 of the Penal Law and article 410 of the CPL are statutes in pari materia insofar as they both address the subject of probation. [417]*417As such, they must be construed together as though forming part of the same statute (see McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 1, Statutes § 221 [b]). Therefore, as a matter of statutory interpretation, the conditions of a sentence of probation may be enlarged pursuant to CPL 410.20, in keeping with the rehabilitative purposes of Penal Law § 65.10.

In Griffin, the Supreme Court upheld the warrantless search of a probationer’s home because it was conducted pursuant to an administrative provision that satisfied the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness requirement (483 US at 873). To be sure, the Griffin majority held that the search of Griffin’s residence was “reasonable” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment because it was conducted pursuant to a valid regulation governing probationers. This conclusion makes it unnecessary to consider whether, as the court below held and the State urges, any search of a probationer’s home by a probation officer is lawful when there are “reasonable grounds” to believe contraband is present (id. at 880). In this case, the court’s authorization of searches of defendant’s residence meets the reasonableness test articulated by the Griffin court in light of (a) the rehabilitative purpose of probation, (b) the statutory scheme created by the Penal Law and the CPL, and (c) the factors considered by the court in enlarging the conditions of defendant’s probation.

People v Hale (93 NY2d 454 [1999]) and People v Jackson (46 NY2d 171 [1978]) also warrant discussion. In Hale, the Court held that the search order provision of CPL 410.50 (3) did not preempt the lawfulness of the search of the residence of a probationer who consented to such searches at the time of his plea (93 NY2d at 463). In Jackson, the Court reversed an order denying the suppression of the fruits of a summary vehicle search by a probation officer conducted without the probationer’s consent or a court-ordered search condition of probation.

Finally, while the Hale court did not decide whether a sentencing court may unilaterally impose search conditions in a sentence of probation, it did cite with approval cases in which search conditions were imposed (e.g. United States v Germosen, 139 F3d 120 [2d Cir 1998], cert denied 525 US 1083 [1999] [defendant convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud sentenced to supervised release subjecting him to searches of his person and property, limited to those searches that probation department finds necessary to secure information about defendant’s finances];

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Related

Griffin v. Wisconsin
483 U.S. 868 (Supreme Court, 1987)
United States v. Hector B. Germosen
139 F.3d 120 (Second Circuit, 1998)
People v. Bravo
738 P.2d 336 (California Supreme Court, 1987)
People v. Hale
714 N.E.2d 861 (New York Court of Appeals, 1999)
People v. Jackson
385 N.E.2d 621 (New York Court of Appeals, 1978)

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Bluebook (online)
76 A.D.2d 414, 906 N.Y.S.2d 37, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-pagan-nyappdiv-2010.