Opinion
February 19, 1991
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County, Herbert Altman, J., Richard W. Wallach, J.
Defendant contends that admissions he made to a fellow jail inmate should not have been admitted at trial, on the ground that the fellow inmate solicited the statements as an agent for the prosecution, in violation of defendant's right to counsel. Testimony at the Massiah hearing revealed that the statements in question had been freely volunteered by defendant in an attempt "to beat the case," that the inmate-witness contacted the District Attorney's Office on his own initiative, and that the prosecution was merely a passive recipient of the information offered. Acceptance of information from an informer who has previously provided information to other law enforcement authorities and who has an expectation of obtaining favored sentencing treatment in return does not render the prosecution's role more than one of a passive recipient of proffered information. (People v Cardona, 41 N.Y.2d 333.)
Concur — Carro, J.P., Ellerin, Kupferman and Rubin, JJ.