The People of the State of New York v Masure Evans
Attorneys and Parties
Brief Summary
Criminal procedure—ineffective assistance of counsel at suppression hearing; adverse inference for unpreserved police-operated surveillance videos; probable cause for traffic stop based on alleged seatbelt violation.
Supreme Court, Monroe County denied suppression of the gun on the ground that police had probable cause to stop defendant for not wearing a seatbelt and did not address the unpreserved surveillance videos; defendant then pled guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00 [defining attempt liability], 265.03(3) [criminal possession of a loaded firearm outside one’s home or place of business]).
The judgment was conditionally modified and the matter remitted for further proceedings on the suppression application, including legal argument and, at defendant’s election, reopening the hearing; potential vacatur of the plea and dismissal of the indictment if suppression is granted.
Defense counsel was ineffective for failing to request an adverse inference based on the undisputed failure to preserve reasonably likely material surveillance videos; with only one arresting officer’s at-times inconsistent testimony supporting the stop, the missing-evidence inference could have undermined probable cause, affecting suppression and the plea bargaining process.
Background
Police stopped Evans’s vehicle for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt. While Evans reached for identification, an officer claimed to see the barrel of a handgun under his leg, leading to recovery of a weapon. Evans was indicted and pled guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree under Penal Law §§ 110.00 [defining attempt liability] and 265.03(3) [criminal possession of a loaded firearm outside one’s home or place of business]. At the suppression hearing, the People’s proof consisted solely of testimony from one arresting officer. City-operated surveillance cameras in the area captured the stop, but those videos were not preserved.
Lower Court Decision
Supreme Court, Monroe County denied suppression on the basis that police had probable cause for the seatbelt stop, without addressing the unpreserved surveillance footage, and accepted Evans’s guilty plea to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.
Appellate Division Reversal
The Appellate Division unanimously modified the judgment by remitting for further proceedings on the suppression application due to ineffective assistance of counsel—specifically, defense counsel’s failure to seek an adverse inference for the missing surveillance videos. On remand, the court must entertain legal argument and, if defendant elects, reopen the hearing. If suppression is granted, the judgment is reversed, the plea vacated, and the indictment dismissed; if the People prevail, the judgment is to be amended to reflect that result.
Legal Significance
Failure to request an adverse inference for unpreserved, reasonably likely material surveillance evidence at a suppression hearing can constitute ineffective assistance of counsel, particularly where the People’s proof rests on a single officer’s inconsistent testimony. Such ineffective assistance claims can survive a guilty plea when the error infects the plea bargaining process. The decision underscores the importance of litigating missing-evidence inferences at suppression and the potential dispositive impact where a firearm is the central evidence.
When police fail to preserve potentially material surveillance video of a stop, defense counsel must seek an adverse inference at the suppression stage; omission can be sufficiently egregious and prejudicial to warrant remand to reopen suppression and may lead to vacatur of the plea and dismissal if the gun is suppressed.