(DOWNLOAD) "People State New York v. Bruce Van Buren" by Supreme Court of New York ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: People State New York v. Bruce Van Buren
- Author : Supreme Court of New York
- Release Date : January 01, 1982
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 66 KB
Description
At the conclusion of a hearing seeking to suppress certain evidence seized at the time of defendants arrest as well as the identification made of defendant subsequent thereto, a negotiated plea of guilty to a reduced charge of robbery in the third degree was entered on July 8, 1980. On September 8, 1980, defendant received an indeterminate sentence with a maximum of five years and no fixed minimum. On this appeal, defendant attacks the legality of his sentence, the reliability and validity of the identification procedure employed by the police, and the warrantless arrest and seizure of evidence at his place of abode. Initially, we agree that the sentence imposed was in violation of the statutory provisions then in effect (Penal Law, § 70.00, subd 3, par [b], eff Sept. 1, 1980). The recent change required the court to set a minimum sentence of not less than one year nor more than one third of the maximum imposed for nonviolent felony convictions. The statute in effect at the time of sentencing is controlling, not the provisions in effect at the time of the entry of the plea of guilty, as suggested by the People. However, this issue is academic since both parties have agreed that in the event of an affirmance, defendant may be resentenced to a term with a minimum of one year and a maximum of five years. As to the identification procedures employed, we find that, considering the totality of the circumstances, they were not so unnecessarily and impermissibly suggestive that they amount to a denial of due process (see People v Gonzalez, 61 A.D.2d 666, affd 46 N.Y.2d 1011). The victim of the robbery, Ms. Moskal, obtained a close view of defendant while he was in her liquor store prior to the time he placed the knife at her throat in the course of the robbery. She gave the police a detailed and accurate description of defendant and the clothes he was wearing, which were the exact type of clothes found on the floor by defendants bed at the time of his arrest. She positively identified defendant in a book of mug shots at the police station shortly after the commission of the crime. Moreover, she again selected defendant from a photographic lineup which included defendant and nine others of similar features and appearance. While a subsequent "showup" of defendant and an identification of defendant through a one-way mirror would seem to be improper (People v Rahming, 26 N.Y.2d 411, 416), the photographs in evidence, and the record as a whole, provide ample basis for the trial courts conclusion that the identification of defendant possessed an independent source and was not tainted by any suggestive police procedures, even in the absence of Ms. Moskals testimony at [87 A.D.2d 900 Page 901]
 "People State New York v. Bruce Van Buren" by Supreme Court of New York ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}