People v. Robinson

Summary

The New York Appellate Division, Fourth Department, affirmed a judgment convicting Lorenzo Robinson upon his guilty plea to criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. The court held that an anonymous 911 call, corroborated by officers' prompt observations matching the detailed suspect description, provided reasonable suspicion for a stop and frisk, and rejected the defendant's constitutional challenge to Penal Law § 265.03 under New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen.

Holdings

1. An anonymous 911 call may establish reasonable suspicion for a level-three police encounter when, under the totality of the circumstances, the report is sufficiently reliable and police promptly corroborate the caller's description, location, and other information, even if strict Aguilar-Spinelli compliance is absent.
2. Suppression was properly denied because the officers had reasonable suspicion to stop and frisk defendant based on the sufficiently corroborated anonymous 911 report.
3. Penal Law § 265.03 is not unconstitutional under Bruen; Bruen did not invalidate New York's criminal possession of a weapon statutes.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the anonymous 911 call, together with the officers' prompt and close-proximity corroboration of the caller's noncriminal and criminal information, established reasonable suspicion for a level-three stop and frisk.
2. Whether the denial of suppression of the firearm and statements obtained after the stop and frisk was erroneous.
3. Whether Penal Law § 265.03 is unconstitutional under New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen.

Disposition

affirmed