Suppression Hearings
Lawyers can ask for a hearing to determine the propriety of the material seized by police related to searching individuals. At the suppression hearing, the Courts consider the totality of the circumstances involved in the search. They look into the suspiciousness of the behavior of the individual stopped by the police. Examples of things the Courts take into consideration are: did an individual stopped for questioning match the description of someone who had recently committed a crime? Is the area of the stop an area known to the police to be a high crime area? Did the encounter take place during the day when the lighting is good or in the evening when lighting is poor? How did the individual respond to the police presence? Was he or she nervous or agitated? How did he or she answer the police’s questions? Was he or she trying to be deceptive? Did the police see anything led them to believe the individual was carrying a weapon? Was there a bulge in the individual’s waistline? Did the bulge look like the individual had a gun in his or her pants? Did the individual cooperate with the police or try to walk or run away?
Arrested: Guns Or Drugs Seized
When an individual is arrested pursuant to a search, guns, drugs or other contraband are seized by police, it is in an individual’s best interest to retain a criminal defense lawyer. The lawyer can take legal action to challenge the propriety of the search. If the challenge is successful, the items in the search are suppressed (cannot be used to prosecute the individual). The Courts in New York are more willing to throw out the evidence seized from bad searches today than they were in the past.
About The Author
Elliot S. Schlissel and his associates have been practicing criminal defense law representing individuals charged with misdemeanors and felonies throughout the metropolitan New York area for more than 30 years.
