From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Martin

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Nov 20, 1995
221 A.D.2d 568 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Opinion

November 20, 1995

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Hall, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant contends that the People failed to establish probable cause for his arrest because the police relied upon hearsay information which did not satisfy the Aguilar-Spinelli test (see, Spinelli v United States, 393 U.S. 410; Aguilar v Texas, 378 U.S. 108). We find this contention to be without merit. "It is well settled that information provided by an identified citizen accusing another individual of a specific crime is legally sufficient to provide the police with probable cause to arrest" (People v Burton, 194 A.D.2d 683, 684; see, People v Newton, 180 A.D.2d 764; People v Douglas, 138 A.D.2d 731, 732). When the witness supplying information to the police is an identified citizen relating information about a crime the citizen personally observed, the People need not make an independent showing of the witness' reliability and basis of knowledge (see, e.g., People v Rivera, 210 A.D.2d 895; People v Robbins, 198 A.D.2d 451).

The evidence adduced at the suppression hearing established that the detective investigating the crime spoke to three civilian witnesses. Contrary to the defendant's contention, the record reveals that the witnesses' names were known to the police. The names were merely withheld during the suppression hearing, with the defendant's consent. From these witnesses, the detective learned that one of the perpetrators of the crime, known as Spooney, lived in a housing project on Blake Avenue and that he was 16 years old. One of the witnesses described Spooney's height, weight, haircut, facial hair, gold teeth, and thick eyebrows, and all three witnesses indicated that they knew Spooney prior to the crime.

The detective then learned through the Housing Police Department computer records that the defendant was known as Spooney. The defendant's address on Blake Avenue, his age, and physical description, as provided by the Housing Police, matched the information the detective had gathered on the individual named Spooney. Under the circumstances, there was probable cause to arrest the defendant (see, People v Burton, 194 A.D.2d 683, supra). The defendant's contention that the witnesses who provided information to the detective were not actual eyewitnesses to the crime is without merit inasmuch as the record reveals that two of these witnesses made lineup identifications of the defendant as a perpetrator of the crime.

We conclude that the defendant's remaining contentions are without merit. O'Brien, J.P., Santucci, Joy and Friedmann, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Martin

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Nov 20, 1995
221 A.D.2d 568 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
Case details for

People v. Martin

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. SHAWN MARTIN, Appellant

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

Date published: Nov 20, 1995

Citations

221 A.D.2d 568 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
634 N.Y.S.2d 147

Citing Cases

People v. Williams

Generally, the information provided by an identified citizen accusing another individual of the commission of…

People v. Williams

The court appropriately permitted the People to adduce farther evidence relative to the issue of probable…