Court of Appeals of New York

The courts below correctly concluded that defendant is entitled to suppression of the breathalyzer test results, where: 1) the statutory right to legal consultation applies when an attorney contacts the police before a chemical test for alcohol is performed and the police must alert the subject to the presence of counsel, whether the contact is made in person or telephonically; 2) the police officers here made no effort to advise defendant about the lawyer's communication and the People did not demonstrate that a notification of this nature would have been unreasonable under the circumstances; and thus, 3) the chemical test was administered in violation of the statutorily-based right to counsel under People v Gursey (22 NY2d 224).

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/06/2014
• Published 05/06/2014

Judges

• GRAFFEO

Court

• Court of Appeals of New York

Counsel