Opinion
No. 570412/19
10-25-2022
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Chandra Clement, Defendant-Appellant.
Unpublished Opinion
PRESENT: Hagler, J.P., Tisch, J.
PER CURIAM.
Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Marsha D. Michael, J., at suppression hearing; Tara A. Collins, J., at plea and sentencing), rendered March 26, 2019, convicting her, upon her plea of guilty, of driving while ability impaired by alcohol, and imposing sentence.
Judgment of conviction (Marsha D. Michael, J., at suppression hearing; Tara A. Collins, J., at plea and sentencing), rendered March 26, 2019, 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]). The arresting officer's testimony established that the stop of the defendant's vehicle was lawful, based upon the firsthand observation imparted to him by a fellow officer, the latter having observed defendant driving without headlights (see People v Mitchell, 124 A.D.3d 912, 914 [2015]; People v Green, 13 A.D.3d 646 [2004] , lv denied 4 N.Y.3d 836 [2005], 4 N.Y.3d 831 [2005]). Contrary to defendant's contention, "[a] police witness at a suppression hearing may establish probable cause by personal knowledge, as well as by information supplied by fellow officers" (People v Edwards, 95 N.Y.2d 486, 491 [2000]) and where, as here, the knowledge of the imparting officer was based on his firsthand observation, the People were not required to produce that officer at the suppression hearing in order to satisfy their burden of going forward to establish the legality of the initial stop (see People v Ketcham, 93 N.Y.2d 416, 420 [1999]).: