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People v. Thomas

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 20, 1998
246 A.D.2d 611 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)

Opinion

January 20, 1998

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Eng, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

At a suppression hearing, a defendant has the burden of establishing standing by demonstrating a personal, legitimate expectation of privacy in the item searched ( see, People v. Whitfield, 81 N.Y.2d 904; People v. Wesley, 73 N.Y.2d 351). Here, the defendant did not sustain this burden. On the contrary, at the hearing the defendant unequivocally and emphatically denied, under oath, any possessory or privacy interest in the bags and their contents. Accordingly, the hearing court properly decided that the defendant had no standing to contest the search of the bags that were discovered to contain marihuana ( cf., People v. Corona, 206 A.D.2d 305).

In any event, assuming, arguendo, that the defendant had properly established standing, under the facts of this case, the search of the bags and the momentary detention of the defendant were proper ( see, People v. Luna, 73 N.Y.2d 173; People v. Price, 54 N.Y.2d 557; People v. Offen, 163 A.D.2d 890, affd 78 N.Y.2d 1089; United States v. Williams, 726 F.2d 661, 663, cert denied 467 U.S. 1245).

The defendant's remaining contentions, including those raised in her supplemental pro se brief, are without merit.

Bracken, J.P., Copertino, Thompson and Luciano, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Thomas

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 20, 1998
246 A.D.2d 611 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)
Case details for

People v. Thomas

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. ELIZABETH THOMAS…

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

Date published: Jan 20, 1998

Citations

246 A.D.2d 611 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998)
667 N.Y.S.2d 294

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