170 A.D.2d 716 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1991
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Broome County (Monserrate, J.), rendered September 20, 1988, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.
Based upon information supplied by a confidential informant, members of the Binghamton Police Department obtained a search warrant covering defendant’s residence and his vehicle. The warrant was executed as defendant drove into his driveway. Upon exiting his vehicle, defendant was immediately frisked, handcuffed and informed of the search warrant. Defendant supplied the key to the front door of his home and asked to be present during the search. His request was denied and he was taken to the police station. The search of defendant’s home revealed a handgun and a small quantity of cocaine. When told of the results of the search at the police station, defendant made several incriminating statements.
Following his indictment on weapon possession and drug possession charges, defendant moved to suppress the physical evidence produced by the search of his home and the incriminating statements made at the police station. The motion was denied after a hearing, and defendant thereafter entered a plea of guilty to one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree in full satisfaction of the indictment. On appeal, defendant maintains that County Court erred in refusing to suppress the evidence and statements.
It is conceded that defendant’s arrest prior to the search was illegal, and defendant maintains that both the physical evidence and the incriminating statements were fruits of the
Here, too, although the police lacked probable cause to arrest defendant, neither his statements at the police station nor the evidence seized from his home were the fruit of that illegal arrest. Defendant made no incriminating statements at his home. Rather, he was not questioned by the police until they returned to the police station after the search, and the incriminating statements were made only after defendant had been confronted with the fruits of the search. In these circumstances, it is clear that both the physical evidence and the incriminating statements were the product of the search, which was conducted pursuant to a search warrant and not as an incident to the unlawful arrest.
As to the validity of the search warrant, defendant does not challenge the merits of County Court’s ruling but instead asserts that County Court’s ruling is infected by two proce
Defendant also contends that County Court erred in failing to conduct a Darden hearing (see, People v Darden, 34 NY2d 177), but defense counsel never requested such a hearing and we cannot fault County Court for failing to perceive defense counsel’s requests for information about the informant as the "functional equivalent” of a request for a Darden hearing.
Judgment affirmed. Mahoney, P. J., Casey, Weiss, Mikoll and Yesawich, Jr., JJ., concur.