From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Thorpe

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 20, 1987
126 A.D.2d 685 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

Opinion

January 20, 1987

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (O'Brien, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The hearing court properly declined to suppress the statement made by the defendant. The defendant was removed from the cell in which he was being held at the police precinct in order to participate in a lineup at which he was identified by the complaining witness. The detective who conducted the lineup then commented to the defendant that he had been identified in the lineup, after which the defendant stated that if the complainant would drop the charges, he would get her property back. The test used in determining whether a defendant's statement is spontaneous is "whether an objective observer with the same knowledge concerning the suspect as the police had would conclude that the remark or conduct of the police was reasonably likely to elicit a response" (People v. Ferro, 63 N.Y.2d 316, 319, cert denied 472 U.S. 1007). Under the circumstances herein, we find that the detective's comment was merely a clarification of the situation confronting the defendant, which was not intended or likely to elicit a response, and the defendant's statement was, therefore, spontaneous and admissible (see, People v. Huffman, 61 N.Y.2d 795; People v. King, 121 A.D.2d 471).

We have considered the defendant's other contentions and find them to be without merit. Brown, J.P., Rubin, Kooper and Sullivan, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Thorpe

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jan 20, 1987
126 A.D.2d 685 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)
Case details for

People v. Thorpe

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. WINSTON THORPE…

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

Date published: Jan 20, 1987

Citations

126 A.D.2d 685 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

Citing Cases

People v. Reaves

“The credibility determinations of the Supreme Court, which saw and heard the witnesses at the suppression…

People v. Broadus

Moreover, "[h]e may not within a short period [of time] thereafter and without a fresh set of warnings be…