People v. White

8 Misc. 3d 935
CourtNew York County Courts
DecidedJune 10, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 8 Misc. 3d 935 (People v. White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York County Courts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. White, 8 Misc. 3d 935 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Kathleen M. Rogers, J.

[936]*936On May 16, 2005 this court conducted a hearing to determine the legality of the stop of defendant’s vehicle by Border Patrol agents at a temporary checkpoint, his subsequent detention pending the arrival of a State Police officer with a drug-detecting dog, and defendant’s eventual warrantless arrest for first degree criminal possession of marihuana (Penal Law § 221.30).

Findings of Fact

At 12:49 p.m. on April 20, 2004 agents of the United States Border Patrol (Department of Homeland Security) were operating a temporary checkpoint near the conjunction of United States Route 11 and State Route 812, in the Town of DeKalb, in this county. The location had been used periodically in the past by these and other Border Patrol agents for the same purpose. The location was near a business known as Diesel Dan’s Truck Stop. This location is also about 25 miles from the international border between the United States and Canada. On this particular occasion the agents were briefly questioning the drivers of all southbound (or westbound) vehicles. One such vehicle was defendant’s gray 2000 Mercury Marquis, in which he was the sole occupant.

Agent Cynthia Pena was the first to testify. She told the court that the checkpoint was operated pursuant to written guidelines for traffic checkpoints, contained in a policy and procedures manual which she had read. According to her uncontradicted testimony, the procedures in the manual were followed at this checkpoint on this date, although the manual itself was not introduced in evidence.

While staffing the checkpoint, Pena stood in the middle of the road. Agent Robert Long was standing there with her, for safety and backup purposes. At least one other Border Patrol agent, and a deputy sheriff were also present, though their role, if any, is unclear. When defendant pulled forward into the “primary” interview area, Pena asked him where he was going, the purpose of his travel, and where he was coming from. White told Pena that he was coming from Massena, and was on his way to Syracuse for an iron workers’ meeting. Pena asked White for identification, which he gave her. She did not recall what type of identification White gave. At this point Long told Pena to direct White to the side of the road for “secondary” questioning. As defendant White pulled to the side of the road, the next car pulled forward into the checkpoint. From this driver’s identification Pena learned that this driver, too, was named White. That [937]*937vehicle was also directed to pull over for secondary questioning. Pena had no further contact with defendant after directing him to pull to the roadside for secondary questioning, although she observed Long’s questioning of defendant White in the secondary interview.

Cross-examination established that Pena had participated in other temporary checkpoints at this same location on other days. Pena explained the difference between fixed and temporary checkpoints, and noted that her office — based in Ogdensburg, New York — did not operate any fixed checkpoints. She noted that, in her own previous law enforcement experience in the southwestern United States, fixed checkpoints had cemented signs set up in the ground. This particular location near Diesel Dan’s had been in regular and frequent use as a temporary checkpoint since December 2002.

The checkpoint was set up using road marker cones and three signs in each direction, advising of the checkpoint, to the east and to the west of where the agents stood in the road. The policy was to stop each vehicle and to question each driver. Although Pena was generally familiar with what she described as the procedure for setting up and operating the checkpoints, she did not have a policy manual available for reference during her testimony, and therefore could not be specific about the exact procedure which was required to be followed.1 She could not say what questions she was supposed to ask under the guidelines, but said that this is a decision for the agent to learn from experience. Since Pena could not identify the specific requirements of the guidelines as to operation of the checkpoint, defense counsel moved to strike her testimony that it was operated according to the guidelines. The motion was denied, but the court ruled that this fact affected the weight to be accorded to Pena’s testimony.

[938]*938Continuing to describe the checkpoint signs, Pena testified that the three signs, and the checkpoint itself, were all visible in a straight line, as required by guidelines. The sign farthest from the checkpoint in each direction was approximately one-quarter mile before the checkpoint. Pena did not know who set up the checkpoint signs on this particular occasion. Pena said that the signs were located by reference to marks on the pavement, but she did not know who put them there or whether they were even visible on this occasion. She did not see the marks that day. She also did not know why that location was chosen for a checkpoint, but said that a record is kept, with a traffic counter, of the number of vehicles passing through the checkpoint. Later in her testimony Pena noted that the guidelines require that the checkpoint be set up on a main highway or corridor leading from an international port of entry into the United States, in this case Ogdensburg, New York. She did not know what sort of records were kept. She had never made a record of how many people were referred to secondary inspection at this checkpoint.

When asked what was her mission in being at this checkpoint, Pena said that “[o]ur mission is to detect and deter illegal aliens or people in illegal activity with weapons of mass destruction.” (Transcript at 29/24-30/2.) Pena expressed the belief that this was the sole mission of this checkpoint.

When asked why she referred defendant White to secondary inspection, she said it was because Long had told her to do so. She asked Long why he wanted this done, and he told her that “he was suspicious, him and the vehicle behind him.”

On redirect, Pena clarified that defendant White tendered a Canadian driver’s license as his identification before he was referred to secondary inspection. When Pena learned that defendant’s surname was White, she told Long to do further checks “because the name White is coming out a lot over the radio.” After Pena referred defendant Brian White for secondary questioning, Long told Pena that the two drivers (Brian White and Raymond White) were “communicating with each other and pointing at us” (transcript at 48/7-10).

The second and only other witness was Border Patrol Agent Robert Long. Long reported that he noticed that defendant White’s vehicle, the gray Mercury Marquis, had New York license plates. The car immediately following the Marquis was a dark blue Chevrolet Impala, also licensed in New York. While listening to Pena question the occupant of a car in front of defendant’s car, Long saw defendant apparently trying to com[939]*939municate with the driver of the Impala by looking in the rear-view mirror, shrugging, putting his hands in the air. The Impala driver was holding a cell phone in one hand and was making hand gestures.

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Related

Matter of White v. State of N.Y. Tax Appeals Trib.
2021 NY Slip Op 04394 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2021)
People v. Jock
40 Misc. 3d 457 (New York County Courts, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
8 Misc. 3d 935, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-white-nycountyct-2005.