People v. Heredia

In People v. Heredia, N.Y.L.J. April 30, 2004 at p. 19 (Sup. Ct., Bronx Cty.), the police stopped a vehicle upon observing that the level of tint in its windows was in excess of the tint permitted under the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Once stopped, the police asked for and checked the driver's license and registration and ran a computer check. No other violations were found. The police also ran a warrant check on Heredia, who one officer thought he recognized from a warrant poster at his precinct, but no warrants or warrant cards came up on the computer. Nonetheless, an officer asked Heredia if there were any drugs or weapons in the car, which Heredia denied, and then asked Heredia in English, and another officer asked in Spanish, for permission to search the car. Heredia agreed. Cocaine was found and defendant Heredia and other occupants of the vehicle were arrested. In holding that the evidence seized should be suppressed, the Heredia court reasoned that while the initial stop and preliminary questioning may have been justified, the subsequent police conduct-including their request for a consent to search-was not and therefore the consent was not voluntarily given.