SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department

1266 

KA 11-02613 

PRESENT: SCUDDER, P.J., SMITH, PERADOTTO, LINDLEY, AND SCONIERS, JJ. 

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, RESPONDENT, 

V MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BOBBY PRICE, JR., DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. 

 

THE LEGAL AID BUREAU OF BUFFALO, INC., BUFFALO (ROBERT B. HALLBORG,

JR., OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. 

FRANK A. SEDITA, III, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BUFFALO (DAVID A. HERATY OF

COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT. 

 

Appeal from a judgment of the Erie County Court (Thomas P.

Franczyk, J.), rendered December 12, 2011. The judgment convicted

defendant, upon a jury verdict, of criminal possession of a weapon in

the fourth degree. 

It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is

unanimously affirmed. 

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him

upon a jury verdict of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth

degree (Penal Law § 265.01 [1]). Defendant contends that County Court

erred in refusing to suppress tangible evidence that the police seized

from his person after stopping his vehicle. Defendant failed to

preserve for our review his contention that the evidence must be

suppressed based on the use of excessive force by the police because

he failed to raise that specific contention in his motion papers or at

the hearing (see People v Gomez, 193 AD2d 882, 883, lv denied 82 NY2d

708; see generally People v Jacquin, 71 NY2d 825, 826-827; People v

Caballero, 23 AD3d 1031, 1032, lv denied 6 NY3d 846). 

In any event, that contention lacks merit. “Claims that law

enforcement officials used excessive force in the course of making an

arrest, investigatory stop, or other seizure of a person are properly

analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s objective reasonableness

standard . . . Determining whether the force used to effect a

particular seizure is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment requires a

careful balancing of the nature and quality of the intrusion on the

individual’s Fourth Amendment interests against the countervailing

governmental interests at stake . . . The test of reasonableness under

the Fourth Amendment requires careful attention to the facts and

circumstances of each particular case, including the severity of the

crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the
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KA 11-02613 

safety of the officers or others, and whether he [or she] is actively

resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight” (People v

Smith, 95 AD3d 21, 26 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Graham v

Connor, 490 US 386, 388). 

Here, the officers stopped the vehicle being driven by defendant,

removed defendant from the vehicle at gunpoint, and immediately asked

him where the gun was located. Defendant was being sought in

connection with the crime of burglary in the first degree, a class B

violent felony, and was believed to be in possession of a handgun,

based upon information provided by an identified citizen. 

Furthermore, although he did not actively resist the police upon being

stopped, he had left the crime scene and thus was attempting to evade

arrest by flight. Consequently, applying the Graham test, we conclude

that the officers’ use of force was reasonable under the Fourth

Amendment. Finally, insofar as defendant contends that the officers

stopped him without probable cause, we agree with the court that the

information available to the police justified a level three intrusion

under People v De Bour (40 NY2d 210, 223; see People v Hollman, 79

NY2d 181, 184-185; cf. People v Moore, 6 NY3d 496, 498-499), and that

the actions of the police required only that level of knowledge.

We have considered defendant’s remaining contention and conclude

that it is without merit.

Entered: December 27, 2013 Frances E. Cafarell

Clerk of the Court