People v. Capers

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed an order suppressing physical evidence and dismissing the indictment after concluding that a search warrant for a two-family home was overbroad and not severable. The court held that the warrant ambiguously described the premises and did not clearly establish two separate target locations, so the valid-search portion could not be preserved under People v. Hansen.

Holdings

1. The warrant could not be severed to preserve the search of the first-floor apartment because its language ambiguously described the premises as a single residence or subject location and did not clearly delineate two separate target locations.
2. The Supreme Court properly granted the defendants' motion to controvert the warrant, suppressed the physical evidence seized under it, and dismissed the indictment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the search warrant, which ambiguously described a two-story, two-family home and lacked probable cause for the second-floor area, could be severed so that evidence seized from the first floor would be admissible.
2. Whether the Supreme Court properly suppressed the evidence and dismissed the indictment after determining that the warrant was overbroad and void at its inception.

Disposition

affirmed