Court of Appeals of New York

In a DeBour dispute involving the appropriate standard for a stop-and-frisk search initiated on the suspicion that defendants were carrying gravity knives, as oppose to other similar knives, judgments of the appeals court affirming denial of defendants' suppression motion is affirmed in part and vacated in part because in stop-and-frisks involving gravity knives, the detaining officer must have reason to believe that the object observed is indeed a gravity knife, based on his or her experience and training and/or observable, identifiable characteristics of the knife.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/05/2011
• Published 05/05/2011

Judges

• PIGOTT

Court

• Court of Appeals of New York

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Karen M. Kalikow, Barbara Zolot, David P. Stromes