Opinion ID: 730821
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Kyle Johnson's Arrest and Subsequent Acquittal

Text: 4 On March 2, 1993 Kyle Johnson was with two friends on the corner of Bailey and Schreck Avenues in the City of Buffalo, when they were approached by defendants, officers of the Buffalo Police Department. The encounter resulted in the seizure of a loaded .38 caliber handgun, and Johnson's arrest on a charge of illegal possession of a weapon. Defendants also seized bags of what they thought was crack cocaine, but later turned out to be Ivory soap flakes. 5 Johnson was taken to the police station and charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon in violation of N.Y. Penal Law § 265.02(3) & (4) and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in violation of N.Y. Penal Law § 220.03. The drug charge was dropped after laboratory tests revealed that the seized substance was soap. A grand jury indicted Johnson on the weapons charge. 6 Prior to trial, Johnson moved to suppress the gun as the product of an illegal arrest. A pretrial suppression hearing was held on December 8, 1993. At the hearing, Johnson's counsel cross-examined the prosecution's witnesses and drew the hearing officer's attention to inconsistencies in their testimony. Nonetheless, the hearing officer concluded there was probable cause for the arrest and recommended that the suppression motion be denied. An order denying the motion was entered by the New York State Supreme Court, Erie County, on January 14, 1994. The State criminal proceedings culminated in a two-day jury trial. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.