People v. McIntosh
730 N.Y.S.2d 265, 755 N.E.2d 329, 96 N.Y.2d 521 (2001)
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Rule of Law:
Police may not conduct a suspicionless request for information from all passengers on a bus based solely on the generalized knowledge that the bus originated from a 'known source city for narcotics.' Such a request requires an objective, credible, and particularized reason related to an individual's conduct or other specific information.
Facts:
- At approximately 3:30 a.m., three investigators from the Albany County Sheriff's Department, wearing civilian clothing with police badges displayed, boarded a commercial passenger bus that had arrived from New York City.
- An investigator announced they were conducting a drug interdiction and asked all fifteen passengers on board to produce their bus tickets and identification.
- After making this general request to everyone, the investigator began walking to the back of the bus.
- While walking, the investigator observed defendant McIntosh and a female companion, seated in the last row, push a black object between them.
- The investigator then approached McIntosh and his companion, specifically asking them for their identification and tickets.
- McIntosh consented to a search of his bag, which revealed a digital scale.
- After asking McIntosh to stand, the investigator found a black jacket on the seat which contained more than two ounces of cocaine.
Procedural Posture:
- Defendant McIntosh was indicted in County Court on two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance.
- McIntosh filed a pre-trial motion to suppress the physical evidence, arguing it was obtained through an unlawful search and seizure.
- The County Court, as the court of first instance, denied the suppression motion.
- Following the denial, McIntosh pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced.
- McIntosh, as appellant, appealed the judgment to the Appellate Division, challenging the denial of his suppression motion.
- The Appellate Division affirmed the County Court's ruling, finding the police conduct was lawful.
- A Judge of the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, granted McIntosh's application for leave to appeal.
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Issue:
Does a police officer's request for identification and bus tickets from every passenger on a bus, based only on the fact that the bus departed from a 'known source city for narcotics,' constitute a lawful police encounter supported by an objective, credible reason under People v. De Bour?
Opinions:
Majority - Graffeo, J.
No. A police request for information from every passenger on a bus is not justified solely because the bus came from a 'known source city for narcotics,' as this lacks the objective, credible, and particularized reason required by the first tier of the De Bour framework. The court's analysis under De Bour was triggered by the initial, blanket request for documents from all passengers, which occurred before police observed any specific or suspicious conduct by the defendant. The court reasoned that while police encounters in high-crime areas have been upheld, those cases always involved an additional nexus to specific conduct by the individual being approached. The mere fact that the bus originated from New York City, a generalized factor, is insufficient by itself. A police encounter cannot be validated by a later-acquired suspicion, so the investigator’s subsequent observation of the defendant pushing an object does not retroactively justify the initial, unlawful request made to all passengers.
Concurring - Smith, J.
No. The police conduct lacked the objective, credible reason required by De Bour and also constituted an unconstitutional seizure under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article I, § 12 of the New York State Constitution. The actions of three officers boarding a bus, positioning themselves in the aisle, and demanding identification and tickets from all passengers without advising them of their right to refuse would communicate to a reasonable person that they were not free to decline the request or terminate the encounter. This coercive environment amounted to a seizure of every passenger, which must be supported by reasonable suspicion, a standard that was clearly not met. This type of suspicionless crime investigation is analogous to the unconstitutional drug checkpoints struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Indianapolis v. Edmond.
Analysis:
This decision reinforces and clarifies the protections of the People v. De Bour framework, establishing that generalized information, such as a location's reputation for crime, cannot substitute for a particularized, objective reason to initiate even a low-level police encounter like a request for information. The ruling significantly curtails the police tactic of conducting dragnet-style, suspicionless inquiries on public transportation in New York. It sets a higher bar for police to initiate such encounters than the federal standard might allow, emphasizing the need for an articulable nexus to individual conduct before interfering with a citizen's freedom of movement.
