| People v Wells |
| 2012 NY Slip Op 04070 [95 AD3d 696] |
| May 24, 2012 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v CarlD. Wells, Appellant. |
—[*1] Carl D. Wells, appellant pro se. Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Megan R. Roberts of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Seth L. Marvin, J.), rendered June 11, 2008,convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of operating a motor vehicle while ability impairedby drugs, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and anydrug or drugs, and sentencing him to a term of six months, unanimously affirmed.
The court erred in relying on the inventory search doctrine in denying suppression of physicalevidence recovered from the car defendant was driving, because the People did not introduce anyevidence to establish a valid inventory search (see People v Johnson, 1 NY3d 252, 256 [2003]). However, therewas overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt, independent of the physical evidence at issue.Although the harmless error rule regarding suppression issues does not normally apply to caseswhere a defendant pleads guilty (People v Grant, 45 NY2d 366, 378-380 [1978]), theparticular circumstances of this case warrant a finding of harmless error (see People vLloyd, 66 NY2d 964 [1985]; People v Beckwith, 303 AD2d 594, 595 [2003];People v Strain, 238 AD2d 452 [1997], lv denied 90 NY2d 864 [1997]).
We have considered and rejected defendant's pro se claims. Concur—Gonzalez, P.J.,Andrias, Saxe, DeGrasse and Román, JJ.