From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Lipscomb

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Apr 28, 1995
214 A.D.2d 970 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Opinion

April 28, 1995

Appeal from the Erie County Court, D'Amico, J.

Present — Pine, J.P., Lawton, Wesley, Callahan and Davis, JJ.


Judgment unanimously affirmed. Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him following a jury trial of attempted murder in the second degree, manslaughter in the second degree, criminal use of a firearm in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. Defendant contends that County Court erred in failing to suppress inculpatory statements he made while in police custody and that his sentence is unduly harsh or severe.

The inculpatory statements made by defendant after he invoked his right to counsel were spontaneous and not the result of police interrogation or its functional equivalent (see, People v Rivers, 56 N.Y.2d 476, 479-480, rearg denied 57 N.Y.2d 775; People v Strickland, 151 A.D.2d 978, 979, lv denied 74 N.Y.2d 819; cf., People v Stoesser, 53 N.Y.2d 648). The detectives' questions following defendant's invocation of the right to counsel related only to pedigree information, e.g., height and weight, necessary to complete the administrative processing of defendant's arrest (see, People v Rogers, 48 N.Y.2d 167, 173); the questions were not "subtly designed to elicit a statement" from defendant (People v Hylton, 198 A.D.2d 301, lv denied 82 N.Y.2d 925; see, People v Self, 213 A.D.2d 998). Contrary to defendant's contention, the police are under no affirmative obligation to prevent a talkative person in custody from making incriminating statements (People v Rivers, supra, at 479).

Finally, defendant's sentence is not unduly harsh or severe.


Summaries of

People v. Lipscomb

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Apr 28, 1995
214 A.D.2d 970 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
Case details for

People v. Lipscomb

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. WILLIE J. LIPSCOMB…

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

Date published: Apr 28, 1995

Citations

214 A.D.2d 970 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
626 N.Y.S.2d 919

Citing Cases

People v. Wilson

Upon our review of the record, we conclude that the evidence is legally sufficient to support defendant's…

People v. Williams

Rather, the defendant made spontaneous statements in response to questions by hospital personnel and in…