Taxi Stop by the Police Was Unlawful, Requiring Suppression and Reversal
Following a fight and a stabbing in the vicinity, a police officer stopped a taxi in which Mr. Rosado was a passenger and recovered a gun from him. Trial counsel’s motion to suppress the evidence, on the basis that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to stop the taxi, was denied. Mr. Rosado subsequently pled guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The Appellate Division reversed the denial of the suppression ruling, concluding that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to believe Mr. Rosado had committed a crime. The Court noted that the stop was based on a report made 40 minutes after the fight, there was no evidence that the informant saw the fight, and the police officer admitted that when he made the stop he did not know if Mr. Rosado was a victim, perpetrator, or involved “in anything.” Accordingly, the weapon possession conviction was reversed and dismissed. Because Mr. Rosado also pled guilty in two unrelated cases that were premised on the promise of concurrent sentences, those two convictions were reversed and remitted.
Samuel Barr represented Mr. Rosado
