Opinion
2022-50195
03-15-2022
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Carlos Jimenez, Defendant-Appellant.
Unpublished Opinion
Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County (Gilbert C. Hong, J.), rendered December 8, 2014, convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of driving while intoxicated, and imposing sentence.
PRESENT: Edmead, P.J., Brigantti, Hagler JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Judgment of conviction (Gilbert C. Hong, J.), rendered December 8, 2014, affirmed.
The court properly denied defendant's suppression motion. There is no basis for disturbing the court's credibility determinations, which are supported by the record (see People v Prochilo, 41 N.Y.2d 759, 761 [1977]). Police had probable cause to arrest the defendant, since he had been speeding before running through two red lights, had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, and admitted that he was "coming from a party" and had "a couple of beers" (see People v Dudley, 169 A.D.3d 1059, 1060 [2019], lv denied 33 N.Y.3d 1068 [2019]; People v Vargas, 123 A.D.3d 1149, 1150 [2014]; People v Thomas, 68 A.D.3d 482, 483 [2009], lv denied 14 N.Y.3d 806 [2010]). The record also supports the finding that the aforementioned statements, made as defendant stepped out of the vehicle, as requested by the officers, were spontaneous, freely volunteered utterances that were unprompted by any police interrogation or the functional equivalent thereof, and, as such, were admissible (see People v Hightower, 154 A.D.3d 636 [2017]; People v Mitchell, 149 A.D.3d 653, 654 [2017], lv denied 29 N.Y.3d 1131 [2017]; People v Grant, 96 A.D.3d 779, 780 [2012], lv denied 19 N.Y.3d 1026 [2012]).
Contrary to defendant's contention, the People's burden at a hearing generally does not extend to calling additional witnesses, specifically the arresting officer's partner, merely to rule out theoretical bases for suppression that lack any "bona fide factual predicate" (People v Witherspoon, 66 N.Y.2d 973, 974 [1985]; see People v Morales, 77 A.D.3d 482 [2010], lv denied 15 N.Y.3d 954 [2010]).
All concur