People v. Williams

144 Misc. 2d 688, 545 N.Y.S.2d 457, 1989 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 496
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 10, 1989
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 144 Misc. 2d 688 (People v. Williams) 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. Williams, 144 Misc. 2d 688, 545 N.Y.S.2d 457, 1989 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 496 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Steven W. Fisher, J.

This is a motion by the People to reargue a prior decision of [689]*689this court suppressing evidence (see, People v Williams, 140 Misc 2d 741). The People contend that the Court of Appeals recent decision in People v Wesley (73 NY2d 351) compels the conclusion that, contrary to the prior holding of this court, none of the three named defendants had standing to contest the seizure of the contraband herein and that, as a result, their suppression motions should have been denied.

The threshold question is whether this reargument motion, made more than 30 days after entry of the orders granting suppression, is time barred. Defendant Williams contends that it is. I hold that it is not.

It is ordinarily true that a motion to reargue may not be made beyond the time within which to appeal from the prior order. This is so because reargument may not be used to extend the time in which to appeal or to revive a right to appeal which has been extinguished.

Where, however, the prior order is still open for review by an appellate court, a motion for reargument will lie, especially when based upon an intervening change in controlling law (see, e.g., Ferrizz v Jahelka, 125 AD2d 537; Foley v Roche, 86 AD2d 887).

In the case at bar, the People timely filed notices of appeal from the orders granting the named defendants’ suppression motions. Those appeals are currently pending before the Appellate Division although they have not yet been submitted. Thus, the instant motion for reargument does not extend the People’s time to appeal, or revive a right to appeal which has expired. It is therefore both timely and proper. I turn, then, to the merits.

The facts here were submitted upon stipulation and were fully set forth in the court’s original opinion (see, People v Williams, 140 Misc 2d 741, supra).

Briefly stated, the three named defendants and one Hilliard Lightfoot were jointly charged with the possession of a quantity of cocaine and other contraband recovered by police who entered Mr. Lightfoot’s apartment under authority of a defective search warrant. Because of the defect in the warrant, the People did not oppose the suppression motion of Hilliard Lightfoot, the legitimate and lawful tenant of the apartment,1 but argued that the other three defendants lacked standing to [690]*690challenge the police entry into the premises and the resulting seizure of contraband - because they had each acknowledged that they were merely guests in Mr. Lightfoot’s apartment and had no legitimate privacy interest in it.

Noting that the law of standing in this State was less than entirely clear, I concluded that the three defendants were entitled to challenge the seizure because they had been charged with constructively possessing the contraband jointly with Hilliard Lightfoot who did have standing. This conclusion was based on my interpretation of the Court of Appeals memorandum decision in People v Mosley (68 NY2d 881, cert denied 482 US 914).

In Mosley (supra), police stopped and frisked the defendant and two companions on the street. The frisks revealed nothing on the defendant, but one of his companions, Mackie, was found to be in possession of a starter’s pistol. All three men were arrested for jointly possessing the pistol. A subsequent search of the defendant at the precinct uncovered a loaded and operable weapon in his pocket. Charged only with possession of that weapon, the defendant moved to suppress it as the fruit of an unlawful arrest.

In a brief memorandum, the Court of Appeals held that the conduct of the defendant and his companions on the street had been equivocal and insufficient to justify the initial stop by the police. The court concluded that the weapon, later seized from the defendant incidental to his unlawful arrest, should have been suppressed.

The court, however, added one sentence which, in the minds of many, threw the law of standing into confusion. The court wrote: "Inasmuch as the People rely on the discovery of the starter pistol on Mackie as the basis for the arrest of defendant — that defendant constructively possessed the weapon concealed on Mackie’s person — defendant has standing to contest the frisk of Mackie” (People v Mosley, 68 NY2d 881, 883, supra; emphasis supplied).

Because I was unable to see how the defendant in Mosley (supra) could claim any reasonable expectation of privacy in the person or clothing of his companion, I concluded that Mosley represented an exception to the prevailing reasonable expectation of privacy rule — an exception based on the fact that the defendant had been charged with possessing the starter’s pistol at the time of its seizure jointly with another person — Mackie — who did have standing to complain. It [691]*691seemed to me that "the Court of Appeals ha[d] come to feel that considerations of fairness require that, in some circumstances, just as possession can be joint and accessorial, so too should be standing to complain” (140 Misc 2d, at 747, supra; see also, People v Pagan, 138 Misc 2d 802 [Sup Ct, Bronx County 1988, Price, J.]; People v Ycasa, 140 Misc 2d 114 [Crim Ct, NY County 1988, Sayah, J.]; People v Febus, Sup Ct, NY County 1988, Failla, J.; People v Lopez, 142 Misc 2d 698 [Sup Ct, Bronx County 1989, Price, J.]; but see, People v Rada, 141 Misc 2d 218 [Sup Ct, NY County 1988, McLaughlin, J.]).

The People now contend that the Court of Appeals recent decision in People v Wesley (73 NY2d 351, supra) demonstrates that this interpretation of Mosley (supra) was incorrect.

In Wesley (supra) narcotics officers obtained a warrant authorizing the search of a house occupied by the defendant’s girlfriend, Jacquelin Glass, and their infant son. When the officers sought entry, the defendant, who was inside, unsuccessfully attempted to bar their way by holding the front door closed. When the officers entered the house, they found and seized a large quantity of marihuana, handguns, and other paraphernalia associated with drug traffic. Also in the house were men’s clothing and toilet articles, photographs of defendant, and personal papers and correspondence bearing the defendant’s name.

Both Glass and the defendant were arrested and charged with possession of the guns and marihuana. Both subsequently testified before the Grand Jury that the defendant never stayed at Glass’s house, that he kept no clothing or property there other than a few stored papers, and that he had no interest in the house but was merely a daily visitor.

Both Glass and the defendant moved to suppress the contraband. Glass’s motion was denied after a hearing. The defendant’s motion, however, was denied without a hearing, the court finding that he had failed to demonstrate standing to challenge the search of the premises. Following a jury trial, both were convicted, Glass on a marihuana charge, the defendant on charges of possessing marihuana and one of the guns.

In separate appeals, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, first reversed Ms. Glass’s conviction on the ground that the warrant authorizing the search of her home had not satisfied the requirements of Aguilar-Spinelli2 (People v Glass, 136 AD2d 892).

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People v. Green
170 Misc. 2d 301 (New York County Courts, 1996)

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Bluebook (online)
144 Misc. 2d 688, 545 N.Y.S.2d 457, 1989 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 496, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-williams-nysupct-1989.