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People v. Huston

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Apr 28, 1995
214 A.D.2d 982 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Opinion

April 28, 1995

Appeal from the Niagara County Court, Punch, J.

Present — Denman, P.J., Lawton, Wesley, Balio and Davis, JJ.


Judgment unanimously affirmed. Memorandum: Defendant contends that his statement and physical evidence should have been suppressed because they were the product of an involuntary and unlawful detention without probable cause and because his consent to search was not voluntarily obtained. We disagree. Defendant was not in custody when he made an inculpatory statement and signed a consent to search form (see, People v Yukl, 25 N.Y.2d 585, mot to amend remittitur denied 26 N.Y.2d 845, 883, cert denied 400 U.S. 851; People v Bell, 182 A.D.2d 858, lv denied 80 N.Y.2d 927). The record supports the suppression court's determination that defendant's execution of the consent to search form was voluntary (see, People v Gonzalez, 39 N.Y.2d 122, 127-130). Defendant's contention that the indictment should be dismissed because of alleged improprieties before the Grand Jury is without merit. Defendant failed to establish the possibility of prejudice as a result of the alleged improprieties and therefore dismissal is not warranted (see, People v Collins, 154 A.D.2d 901, 902, lv denied 75 N.Y.2d 769). Finally, defendant contends that the trial court's denial of his motion to admit portions of Jule Huston's Grand Jury testimony violated his statutory and constitutional right to present a defense. There was no statutory violation (see, CPL 670.10; People v Green, 78 N.Y.2d 1029), nor was defendant's constitutional right to present a defense impaired because defendant failed to establish that the testimony was material. In any event, Jule Huston was not subjected to traditional cross-examination by the District Attorney, and thus there was not sufficient indicia of reliability (cf., People v Tinh Phan, 150 Misc.2d 435, 438-439).


Summaries of

People v. Huston

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Apr 28, 1995
214 A.D.2d 982 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
Case details for

People v. Huston

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. JOSHUA S. HUSTON…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department

Date published: Apr 28, 1995

Citations

214 A.D.2d 982 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
626 N.Y.S.2d 625