Opinion
July 3, 1997
Appeal from Supreme Court, New York County (Ronald Zweibel, J.).
Based on the increasingly suspicious behavior of defendant and his companions in and near the supermarket and on the fact that they matched a general description of suspects who had been committing store robberies in the area, the police officers had reasonable suspicion that the three men had been planning to rob the store, warranting the nearby stop of the vehicle in which defendant and one companion were riding ( see, Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 27-28). In any event, defendant's tossing of the gun out the window, which occurred several minutes after the car had been pulled over, was an abandonment independent of any police conduct ( People v. Boodle, 47 N.Y.2d 398, cert denied 444 U.S. 969).
The court's supplemental instruction to the jury, read as a whole, did not shift the burden of proof or permit the jury to speculate about facts not in evidence.
Concur — Milonas, J. P., Nardelli, Williams, Mazzarelli and Andrias, JJ.