Opinion
December 31, 1990
Appeal from the County Court, Nassau County (Baker, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
A police officer found the defendant intoxicated and asleep in his car which was parked on the shoulder of a highway with its headlights on and engine running and, by use of a flashlight, observed an open paper bag containing marihuana on the floor of the vehicle. On appeal, the defendant challenges the hearing court's denial of that branch of his omnibus motion which was to suppress the marihuana arguing (1) that the officer's use of the flashlight to search the interior of the car violated his Fourth Amendment rights and (2) that the police testimony was patently tailored to overcome constitutional objections.
Neither of these arguments was advanced before the hearing court and therefore they are not preserved for this court's review (see, People v. Tutt, 38 N.Y.2d 1011; People v. Francois, 155 A.D.2d 685). In any event, contrary to the defendant's contention, the officer's use of a flashlight was not an unreasonable intrusion inasmuch as the marihuana was in the plain view of the officer, but for the dark (see, People v. Cruz, 34 N.Y.2d 362, amended 35 N.Y.2d 708; People v. Wallace, 153 A.D.2d 59; People v. Baldanza, 138 A.D.2d 722). Furthermore, we find no basis in the record for disturbing the hearing court's determination that the police testimony was credible. Bracken, J.P., Lawrence, Eiber, Harwood and Rosenblatt, JJ., concur.