PEOPLE v. GOMES (2023)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Maxwell Wiley, J.), rendered May 17, 2017, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the first degree, and sentencing him to four years probation, unanimously affirmed.

The court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress physical evidence, without granting a Mapp hearing.  In view of the information available to defendant, his conclusory assertions of innocent conduct at the time of the search and seizure, and general lack of probable cause, were insufficient to warrant a hearing (see People v. Mendoza, 82 N.Y.2d 415, 422 [1993]).  The felony complaint, the voluntary disclosure form and the People's statements on the record at arraignment specified that defendant was initially arrested for criminal trespass and explained in detail why security personnel excluded defendant from a hospital.  In his moving papers, defendant neither denied trespassing nor asserted any other specific basis for challenging his arrest and the ensuing search, which yielded counterfeit money (see People v. Jones, 95 N.Y.2d 721, 728–729 [2001]).  For the first time on appeal, defendant offers several new grounds for suppression, and claims he lacked sufficient information upon which to pursue them.  These arguments are unpreserved (see Mendoza, 82 N.Y.2d at 432), and we decline to review them in the interest of justice.