A Suffolk Cocaine Possession Lawyer said that this is an appeal by the defendant from a judgment of Supreme Court, Suffolk County, rendered October 22, 1987, convicting him of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree and criminal possession of controlled substance in the third degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing, of that branch of the defendant’s omnibus motion which was to suppress physical evidence.
The issue in this case is whether the evidence should be suppressed.
The court in deciding the case said that, preliminarily, it note that the evidence adduced at the suppression hearing sufficiently established the existence of probable cause to arrest the defendant. An experienced narcotics officer testified that, in an area which is known for its high incidence of narcotics trafficking, he observed the defendant exchange several small clear plastic bags for a sum of United States currency. This officer, together with his partner, thereafter followed the defendant into a nearby establishment, known as the “Blue Room”. Several patrons alerted the defendant to the fact that the police had arrived upon the scene, and the defendant was observed by both officers throwing a small plastic bag toward the bar area. The officer subsequently retrieved the bag, and discovered that it contained what he believed to be cocaine. The retrieval of the plastic bag discarded by the defendant, which appeared to contain cocaine, provided the necessary probable cause to arrest him.