Opinion
04-16-2024
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Nicholas JOHNSON, Defendant–Appellant.
Jenay Nurse Guilford, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Matthew Bova of counsel), for appellant. Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Jennifer Mitchell of counsel), for respondent.
Jenay Nurse Guilford, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Matthew Bova of counsel), for appellant.
Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Jennifer Mitchell of counsel), for respondent.
Moulton, J.P., Gesmer, González, Rodriguez, Michael, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Abraham L. Clott, J.), rendered April 20, 2023, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a persistent violent felony offender, to a term of 12 years to life, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly denied defendant’s suppression motion. Even assuming that defendant has standing to challenge the search of the bag (see People v. Ramirez–Portoreal, 88 N.Y.2d 99, 108–109, 643 N.Y.S.2d 502, 666 N.E.2d 207 [1996]), the search was justified as a search incident to a lawful arrest. The bag, which was under the bed on which defendant was lying and two feet away, was within defendant’s "grabbable area," and the police had reason to suspect that defendant was armed and dangerous, given that the i-Cards issued for his arrest indicated that he had committed a gunpoint rape and robbery and in light of the reports of his violent history (see People v. Jimenez, 22 N.Y.3d 717, 722, 985 N.Y.S.2d 456, 8 N.E.3d 831 [2014]; People v. Gokey, 60 N.Y.2d 309, 312, 469 N.Y.S.2d 618, 457 N.E.2d 723 [1983]). Although defendant was handcuffed at the time of the search, the bag had not been reduced to the exclusive control of the police, and the police acted reasonably to ensure their safety (see People v. Wylie, 244 A.D.2d 247, 250, 666 N.Y.S.2d 1 [1st Dept. 1997], lv denied 91 N.Y.2d 946, 671 N.Y.S.2d 726, 694 N.E.2d 895 [1998]; People, v. Johnson, 86 A.D.2d 165, 168, 449 N.Y.S.2d 41 [1st Dept. 1982], affd 59 N.Y.2d 1014, 466 N.Y.S.2d 957, 453 N.E.2d 1246 [1983]).