OFFICERS WERE A BIT LATE TO THIS PARTY ….
After his suppression motion was denied, and SJ was convicted of “criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree,” and sentenced to a six-year term, an appeal to the Appellate Division, First Department, ensued.
On its review of the record, the AD1 noted that when officers went to SJ’s apartment, they knocked on the door, heard movement in the unit, announced that they were police, and after receiving no response entered the residence (upon finding the door unlocked).
It is only after they entered the premises, that a detective announced, “NYPD arrest warrant.” Since the officers failed to give proper notice of their “purpose” prior to entering the apartment, the AD1 thought the entry was unlawful, and that the New York County Supreme Court should have granted SJ’s motion to suppress the evidence retrieved and that the conviction thus needed to be reversed.
That had to be suppressing.
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DECISION