Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Broome County (Smith, J.), rendered November 29, 2007, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
On November 2, 2006, Sergeant Christopher Braceo of the City of Binghamton Police Department stopped a motor vehicle that was operated by Avery Lyons for violating two separate provisions of the Vehicle and Traffic Law—failure to illuminate headlights during the evening hours and failure to signal prior to making a right-hand turn (see Vehicle and Traffic Law §§ 376, 1163). After the vehicle pulled over to the side of the road, Braceo approached it from the passenger side and observed defendant seated in the front passenger seat. Lyons was asked to
Defendant filed an omnibus motion seeking, among other things, suppression of the evidence seized from the car on the ground that it was seized pursuant to an illegal search. After defendant’s motion was denied, he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree in full satisfaction of all charges contained in the indictment, and he was subsequently sentenced to six years in prison, to be followed by three years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals, claiming that County Court erred in not granting his motion to suppress and that the sentence imposed, even though the product of a negotiated plea, was unduly harsh and excessive.
Defendant argues that his motion to suppress should have been granted because the police did not have probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed when they searched the vehicle and that, at the very minimum, they should have obtained a search warrant prior to conducting the search. In that regard, we note that defendant does not contend that the
The principal issue raised in this appeal is not whether Braceo lawfully detained the vehicle or whether he had the right to order the occupants to exit from it, but whether the police were provided with probable cause to search the vehicle and seize any of its contents as a result of what transpired after the vehicle was stopped. We note that there is nothing inherently incredible or improbable in the credibility determinations made by County Court after hearing testimony on defendant’s motion to suppress as to the circumstances leading up to the stop and subsequent search of the vehicle. As those findings have ample support in the record, they are entitled to deference (see People v Rivera, 68 NY2d 786, 787-788 [1986]; People v Reid, 2 AD3d 1061, 1062 [2003], lv denied 3 NY3d 646 [2004]; People v Esposito, 191 AD2d 746, 747 [1993], lv denied 81 NY2d 885 [1993]).
After stopping the vehicle, Braceo observed, in plain view, a “plastic knotted wrap” on the vehicle’s console that, based upon his experience in investigating street level narcotic activity, he recognized as material commonly used to package cocaine. In addition, as the occupants were exiting the vehicle, Braceo observed on the floor of the back seat another plastic wrap— this one containing a white powder that resembled cocaine. Under the circumstances as they then existed, Braceo had reason to believe that illegal drugs were inside the vehicle and, at that point, had the legal authority to conduct an immediate search of the interior of the vehicle and seize any illegal contraband found in it (see People v Beriguette, 84 NY2d 978, 980 [1994]; People v Pierre, 8 AD3d 904, 905 [2004], lv denied 3 NY3d 710 [2004]; People v Foster, 4 AD3d 434, 434 [2004]; People v Dobere, 298 AD2d 770, 772 [2002]; see also People v Gaines, 57 AD3d 1120 [2008]).
Peters, J.P., Rose and Kane, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
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The 10-count indictment also charged Lyons and Paulson in connection with the contraband found in the car, but the record is unclear as to the disposition of these charges, and Lyons and Paulson are not participants in this appeal.