New York Criminal Defense Law Blog

The New York Police Department is facing criticism for its allegedly aggressive use of stop-and-frisk searches. The criticism comes as a report from the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) notes not only that the number of the searches has markedly increased since 2003, but also that they seem to disproportionately affect young black men. Furthermore, the findings could have an impact on criminal defense cases that are the result of charges filed following a stop-and-frisk search.

In 2003, the NYPD performed 160,851 police stops. However, that number has risen more than fourfold since then to 685,724 in 2011. On top of that, the number of on-the-spot searches of black men ages 14 to 24 actually outnumbers the total population of that demographic in the city. Specifically, there were 168,126 searches done on young black men out of a population of 158,406.

A bodega worker in Brooklyn, New York was charged with selling alcohol to a minor earlier this month. The minor came into the worker's store and tried to buy beer, which the worker refused to sell due to the minor's age. But the underage customer went outside and convinced an older person to buy the alcohol for him, which the unknowing worker allowed. He pleaded guilty to selling liquor to a minor and to unlawful dealing.

However, there is a twist in this story: the whole incident was controlled by police, who were performing a sting. And since it was all caught on tape, the criminal allegation against the worker was unjust and the charges are expected to be dropped.

Antoine Jones was arrested in 2005 on drug and conspiracy charges. To earn the arrest, police attached a GPS device to Jones's car and used the information to discover the property where large quantities of cash and drugs were stored. His drug case was taken to trial twice -- the first time ending in a hung jury and the second time convicting him on conspiracy charges, which carried a life sentence.

Jones, though, successfully challenged the use of the GPS device. He was not informed of the device nor was there a warrant permitting the use of such tracking equipment on his car, so Jones argued that using GPS against him was a violation of privacy. An appellate court agreed, reversing the conviction and jail sentence from the second trial. The ruling made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court -- which also agreed with Jones, establishing the precedent that prosecutors cannot use GPS evidence against defendants.

In what is being hailed as the first study of its kind, researchers have found that when a police officer chases a suspect or is in a physical altercation -- or, really, exerts any excessive amount of physical energy during a pursuit -- the officer forgets details about the entire incident.

The implications of the study are important, especially on the criminal defense side, as many defendants may have been jailed for an incident that was misremembered by officers on the scene.