| People v Hardie |
| 2009 NY Slip Op 05875 [64 AD3d 666] |
| July 14, 2009 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Steven Hardie, Appellant. |
—[*1] Francis D. Phillips II, District Attorney, Goshen, N.Y. (Lauren E. Dunnock and Andrew R.Kass of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Orange County (Berry, J.),rendered July 14, 2008, convicting him of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree,upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, aftera hearing, of that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to suppress physicalevidence.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
To the extent that the defendant's hearing testimony regarding a butane lighter and thecharring of a marijuana cigarette raised any inconsistencies with the testimony of the arrestingofficer, they merely presented questions of credibility for the hearing court to resolve. Thecredibility determinations of the hearing court are to be accorded great weight, given the court'sunique perspective of having seen and heard the witnesses (see People v Prochilo, 41NY2d 759, 761 [1977]; People v Wheeler, 2 NY3d 370, 374 [2004]; People v Cruz, 59 AD3d 457[2009], lv denied 12 NY3d 852 [2009]). The credibility determinations of the hearingcourt will not be disturbed where there is support in the record for such determinations and thereis no showing that they were clearly erroneous (see People v Bennett, 57 AD3d 912 [2008]; People v Timmons, 54 AD3d 883[2008]; People v Britton, 49 AD3d893, 894 [2008]; People v Washington, 182 AD2d 791 [1992]). Here, there is clearsupport in the record for crediting the officer's testimony. Accordingly, that branch of thedefendant's omnibus motion which was to suppress physical evidence was properly denied.Prudenti, P.J., Miller, Covello and Austin, JJ., concur.