People v. SchaeferPeople v. Schaefer
Decided and Entered: July 12, 2018
Calendar Date: June 8, 2018
Before: McCarthy, J.P., Egan Jr., Lynch, Clark and Pritzker, JJ.
Cooper Erving & Savage LLP, Albany (Phillip G. Steck of counsel), for appellant.
Susan J. Mallery, District Attorney, Schoharie (Michael L. Breen of counsel), for respondent.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Lynch, J.
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Schoharie County (Bartlett III, J.), rendered October 11, 2017, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.
In late June 2015, the State Police commenced an investigation into injuries, including a traumatic head injury, sustained by an eight-year-old child following an incident near defendant‘s residence where the child became unresponsive while in defendant‘s care. Two weeks later, the police obtained a search warrant, which authorized a search of defendant‘s residence, person and property for, among other things, any belongings and personal effects of the child, any items of evidence that may contain bodily fluids that would identify the person(s) who caused the child‘s injuries, and blunt objects or other items that could have caused the child‘s injuries. The search warrant described the property as having two house trailers and three cottages and included any lockboxes, safes and containers found therein. Police executed the search warrant and seized, among other things, an illegal assault rifle from a locked gun safe in the second trailer. Defendant was thereafter charged by indictment with reckless endangerment in the first degree, reckless assault of a child by a day-care provider, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and endangering the welfare of a child.
Defendant moved to suppress any physical evidence seized from him, including the assault rifle, contending that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated because the search warrant was not supported by probable cause and the search exceeded the scope of the warrant. Following a hearing, County Court denied the motion. Defendant subsequently entered an Alford plea to criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. As part of the plea agreement, defendant retained his right to appeal and specifically reserved his right to challenge the denial of his suppression motion (see
Defendant‘s sole contention is that County Court improperly denied his suppression motion. Initially, insofar as defendant challenges the validity of the search warrant by arguing that the magistrate acted as a rubber stamp in issuing the warrant, we find that this argument is unpreserved (see
The sworn written application submitted by State Police Investigator Thomas Cioffi provided that, on June 29, 2015 while defendant was caring for the child near his residence, the child became unresponsive. Upon evaluation by medical professionals, it was determined that the child sustained a life-threatening subdural hematoma, among other injuries. The emergency room staff at Albany Medical Center contacted the State Police to make a mandated report of suspected child abuse, indicating that the victim was suffering from, among other things, internal injuries, lacerations, bruises and inadequate guardianship. During their investigation, State Police personnel conducted interviews of physicians at Albany Medical Center, with one physician opining that no natural causes of subdural hematoma were detected and that the injury was caused by trauma. Other interviews determined that the child had exclusively been under the care and control of his mother and defendant since June 8, 2015. Furthermore, the investigation developed contradictory information with respect to what occurred on the day of the incident, as well as inconsistencies as to the care and guardianship of the child. At the hearing, one of the investigators testified that, before the search warrant
McCarthy, J.P., Egan Jr., Clark and Pritzker, JJ., concur.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.