Opinion
2012-05-29
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. William SMITH, Defendant–Appellant.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Bonnie C. Brennan of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Karinna M. Arroyo of counsel), for respondent.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Bonnie C. Brennan of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Karinna M. Arroyo of counsel), for respondent.
FRIEDMAN, J.P., SWEENY, RENWICK, FREEDMAN, ABDUS–SALAAM, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Ruth Pickholz, J.), rendered July 9, 2009, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony drug offender, to a term of 1 1/2 years, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly denied defendant's suppression motion. The court credited the testimony of two police officers that defendant, upon becoming startled by their presence, spontaneously and voluntarily dropped a plastic bag containing crack cocaine, and there is no basis to disturb the court's credibility determinations ( see generally People v. Prochilo, 41 N.Y.2d 759, 761, 395 N.Y.S.2d 635, 363 N.E.2d 1380 [1977] ). There is nothing in the record to support the conclusion that the officers' testimony was tailored to meet constitutional objection ( see People v. Harris, 186 A.D.2d 390, 588 N.Y.S.2d 184 [1992],lv. denied80 N.Y.2d 1027, 592 N.Y.S.2d 676, 607 N.E.2d 823 [1992] ).