Opinion
May 4, 1987
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Kramer, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The search of the defendant did not violate his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The police, following a "tip", entered a building, and, standing in a common hallway, observed the defendant through the open door of an apartment in possession of three hypodermic syringes. The apartment was, in fact, a "shooting gallery" belonging to a person other than the defendant. Under the circumstances, the police had probable cause to arrest the defendant (see, People v. Jackson, 41 N.Y.2d 146, 149-150) and the subsequent search of his person, which produced a handgun, was likewise justified as a search incident to a lawful arrest (see, People v. Knapp, 52 N.Y.2d 689, 694-695). Thus, the physical evidence was properly admissible in the defendant's trial for criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument. Bracken, J.P., Kunzeman, Kooper and Spatt, JJ., concur.