People v. Dawkins

In People v. Dawkins, 163 A.D.2d 322 (2d Dept. 1990), the defendant, acting in concert with others, robbed the complainant while he was at a gas station. At the pretrial hearing, the arresting officer testified that the victim had indicated that the assailants were black males in late teens or early twenties, medium height and build, and were traveling in blue Chevy with a license number provided. The officer found out that the defendant was the registered owner of vehicle and left him a telephone message. The defendant came to the precinct next day and was arrested. The Dawkins Court held that there was no probable cause to arrest defendant. The police had reasonable suspicion that the defendant's vehicle was involved in the robbery, but the only indication that the arresting officer had that defendant was involved was that he "apparently fit the very vague description of one of the perpetrator" that officer had from the victim. This general description was not sufficient to constitute reasonable suspicion. In Dawkins, it was the next day when the defendant came to the precinct voluntarily. This behavior, in addition to the fact that the apprehension of defendant was not close in space and time to crime or crime scene is distinguishable from the present facts. Moreover, the general combined description of the suspects was more vague than the description provided by the undercover here which focused only upon defendant as opposed to a group. In addition, there was no identification by the victim in Dawkins before the defendant was arrested.