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People v. Husbands

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 11, 1991
171 A.D.2d 756 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

March 11, 1991

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (McInerney, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

Among the arguments made by the defendant on appeal is his contention that after his arrest he was deprived of access to a certain prescription medication, without which he was incapable of making intelligent decisions respecting, for example, whether to waive his Miranda rights (see, Miranda v Arizona, 384 U.S. 436). Even assuming, as the People have apparently conceded, that the defendant had actually requested this medication, and that the police officers had declined to provide it, the fact remains that the evidence accepted by the hearing court, and worthy of credit on appeal, establishes that the defendant's fundamental ability to make intelligent decisions remained unimpaired. The weight of the credible evidence does not support the inference that the defendant's inability to take his medication on schedule resulted in the sudden loss of his capacity to understand either the nature of his legal rights or the consequences that would follow from their waiver (see generally, People v Williams, 62 N.Y.2d 285; People v Bing, 146 A.D.2d 178, affd 76 N.Y.2d 331; People v Molina, 140 A.D.2d 377; see also, People v Marshall, 50 Cal.3d 907, 269 Cal.Rptr. 269, cert denied ___ US ___, 112 L Ed 2d 1105). We would also note that, under the circumstances of this case, the police officers did not act unreasonably in declining to permit the defendant, who did not appear to be experiencing any medical problems, to ingest a substance the exact nature of which could not be immediately verified.

We have examined the defendant's remaining contentions, including those raised in his supplemental pro se brief, and find them to be without merit. Bracken, J.P., Kooper, Harwood and Balletta, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Husbands

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 11, 1991
171 A.D.2d 756 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

People v. Husbands

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. STEVEN B. HUSBANDS…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Mar 11, 1991

Citations

171 A.D.2d 756 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
567 N.Y.S.2d 309

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