People v. Jones, 22 N.Y.3d 452 (2013)
Evidence obtained following an illegal arrest is admissible if the connection between the illegal conduct and the discovery of the evidence is sufficiently attenuated.
Summary
The New York Court of Appeals addressed whether a lineup identification should be suppressed as the product of an illegal arrest. The defendant was initially arrested without probable cause for disorderly conduct, but a subsequent conversation between the arresting officer and a detective, who had independently gathered substantial evidence linking the defendant to a robbery, provided probable cause for the defendant’s detention. The Court held that the lineup identification was admissible because the taint of the illegal arrest was sufficiently attenuated by the intervening discovery of the detective’s independent evidence. The Court considered the temporal proximity of the arrest and identification, the presence of intervening circumstances, and the purpose and flagrancy of the official misconduct.
Facts
A woman was robbed in her apartment building. The victim and a neighbor described the perpetrator as a tall, dark-skinned man in his early thirties, with a large build. The neighbor added that the perpetrator was known as “Izz.” A detective learned that “Izz” was also known as “Michael Wright,” and that Wright’s physical attributes matched the descriptions given by the witnesses. Several days later, a store employee who had seen the man leaving the building identified the defendant to a sergeant. The sergeant located the defendant, who identified himself as “Michael Wright” but could not produce identification. The sergeant arrested the defendant for disorderly conduct because he was allegedly blocking the sidewalk. The sergeant also suspected the defendant was involved in the robbery. After the arrest, the sergeant contacted the detective, who informed him about the photograph of the suspect in his case folder.
Procedural History
The defendant was convicted of burglary and robbery. The Appellate Division held the appeal in abeyance and remitted the matter for a Dunaway hearing to determine the legality of the arrest. The hearing court found that the arrest was illegal but that the detective’s independently gathered evidence attenuated the taint. The Appellate Division affirmed. The New York Court of Appeals granted leave to appeal.
Issue(s)
Whether the lineup identification must be suppressed as the product of an illegal arrest, or whether the taint of the illegal arrest was sufficiently attenuated by intervening events such that the identification was admissible.
Holding
No, the lineup identification was admissible because the taint of the illegal arrest was attenuated because the detective possessed sufficient independent evidence to establish probable cause for the defendant’s arrest, which was discovered shortly after the illegal arrest.
Court’s Reasoning
The Court of Appeals acknowledged that the initial arrest was illegal because it was made without probable cause. However, the Court emphasized that evidence discovered subsequent to an illegal arrest is not automatically subject to the exclusionary rule. Instead, the People must show that the evidence was obtained independently of the illegal conduct. To determine whether attenuation exists, the Court must consider “’the temporal proximity of the arrest and [the evidence at issue], the presence of intervening circumstances and, particularly, the purpose and flagrancy of the official misconduct’” (People v. Bradford, 15 N.Y.3d 329, 333 (2010), quoting People v. Conyers, 68 N.Y.2d 982, 983 (1986)).
The Court found that the detective had gathered detailed descriptions of the perpetrator from two witnesses, learned of the perpetrator’s street name, and discovered that the street name was associated with an individual whose physical description matched the witnesses’ descriptions. The detective also had a photograph of the suspect. This evidence was obtained independently of the illegal arrest. The sergeant’s conversation with the detective shortly after the arrest, which revealed the existence of this independent evidence, constituted an intervening circumstance that attenuated the taint of the illegal arrest.
The Court rejected the defendant’s argument that the disorderly conduct charge was a pretext for an illegal investigation, noting that there was record support for the Appellate Division’s finding that the police did not exploit the illegal arrest. The Court further stated that “a police officer is entitled to rely on a name given him by a fellow officer as part of his investigation” (People v. Ketcham, 93 N.Y.2d 416, 420 [1999]).