People v. Page
Opinion of the Court
Defendant’s arguments that the court erred in failing to suppress allegedly custodial statements made to the police before he received his Miranda warnings, as well as statements he made after he received those warnings, are unpreserved and we decline to review them in the interest of justice. The hearing court did not “expressly decide[ ]” (CPL 470.05 [2]) these issues (see People v Turriago, 90 NY2d 77, 83-84 [1997]). On the contrary, while the court made reference to the question of custody, it expressly stated that no such issue was before it at the hearing, since defendant was only challenging the legality of the police entry into certain premises (an issue not pursued on appeal). As an alternative holding, we also reject defendant’s claims on the merits. With respect to his pre-Miranda statements, a reasonable person in defendant’s position, innocent of any wrongdoing, would not have believed that the interrogation was custodial (see People v Yukl, 25 NY2d 585 [1969], cert denied 400 US 851 [1970]; People v DeJesus, 32 AD3d 753 [2006], lv denied 8 NY3d 879 [2007]). Although defendant was initially seized and handcuffed by parole officers, police detectives immediately removed the handcuffs and clearly conveyed to defendant that the detention had terminated, whereupon defendant agreed to accompany the detectives to be interviewed as a potential witness. In any event, regardless of the admissibility of the pr e-Miranda statements, there was a definite, pronounced break in the interrogation so that the post -Miranda statements were admissible (see People v Paulman, 5 NY3d 122, 130-131 [2005]).
Defendant’s argument that his convictions for intentional murder (under a transferred intent theory) and depraved indifference murder should be reversed because the counts were not submitted to the jury in the alternative is unpreserved and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we also reject the argument on the merits. Where, as
We find the sentence excessive to the extent indicated. Concur—Tom, J.E, Nardelli, Catterson, Renwick and Richter, JJ.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.