Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Sheridan, J.), rendered September 29, 1995 in Ulster County, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree.
When Sarles advised Pagan that he had a signed complaint charging assault in the third degree, Pagan informed defendant that he was being placed under arrest. Defendant requested permission to get a shirt and shoes. Pagan assented. He and Sarles followed defendant into the bedroom where defendant turned on the light, picked up his clothes, turned off the light and quickly ushered them out of the room. During that interval, which lasted less than a minute, Pagan observed a plate glass and some razors with what appeared to be a cocaine residue, a few plastic glassine envelopes, a strainer and a scale, all located on top of a night table-sized dresser. After defendant put on his shirt and his shoes, Pagan conducted a pat down for weapons and discovered a tightly rolled one dollar bill in his pocket which appeared to have a cocaine residue. Defendant was taken into custody.
Pagan applied for and obtained a search warrant from a Town Justice. A search of the premises revealed, inter alia, more than two ounces of cocaine in the safe. Defendant was subsequently indicted for the crimes of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, eavesdropping, possession of an eavesdropping device, criminal possession of marihuana in the fourth degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. Following a suppression hearing, County Court denied defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence seized pursuant to the warrant. Defendant pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance
Defendant argues that his motion to suppress evidence seized at his residence should have been granted as the warrant was based upon an application containing false statements by Pagan or statements made by him with reckless disregard for the truth. It is settled law that "[w]here an affidavit submitted on a warrant application contains a false statement which was made knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth and which is necessary to the finding of probable cause, the warrant will be voided and the fruits of the search suppressed if the remainder of the affidavit is insufficient to establish probable cause” (People v Ronning,
In the search warrant application, Pagan stated that he observed a plastic baggie containing a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine and a flat piece of glass with a white powdery substance. He also stated, "While at the residence Melanie St. John stated to deponent that strangers come to the house to see [defendant]. They enter the house and [defendant] leads them into the bedromm [sic] where they give him money and then he goes into the safe (which is located in side of the closet in the bedroom center of the door) and in turn gives them something back.”
While these statements appear to deviate from the facts revealed at the suppression hearing, defendant did not establish that they were perjurious or made with reckless disregard for the truth. Defendant made no inquiry of Pagan as to their truth or falsity, nor did he inquire into Pagan’s state of mind at the time the application was prepared. While St. John denied that she told the Troopers that there was cocaine in the safe or that there were strangers coming to the house, she admitted that she had been drinking that night and was exhausted, and had occasionally experienced blackouts from her drinking. County Court declined to credit St. John’s testimony, a determination which, supported by the record, is entitled to great weight (see, People v Lesiuk,
Mercure, White, Casey and Spain, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
