| People v Santiago |
| 2018 NY Slip Op 06490 [165 AD3d 417] |
| October 2, 2018 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Gabriel Santiago, Appellant. |
Christina A. Swarns, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Benjamin S. Beller ofcounsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Sylvia Wertheimer of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (James M. Burke, J.), rendered January 28,2015, as amended February 17, 2015, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminalpossession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felonydrug offender previously convicted of a violent felony offense, to a term of six years,unanimously affirmed.
The court properly denied defendant's suppression motion. There is no basis for disturbingthe court's credibility determinations (see People v Prochilo, 41 NY2d 759, 761 [1977]).During a lawful traffic stop, the police saw defendant place in his waistband a clear sandwich bagcontaining four smaller plastic bags of a white substance. Based on his training and experience,an officer reasonably believed that the four smaller bags contained cocaine. At this point, theofficers had probable cause to arrest defendant. Bags of white powder have long been recognizedas indicative of the presence of drugs (see e.g. People v Ricciardi, 149 AD2d 742[2d Dept 1989]), and the fact that some white powdery substances are legal does not undermineprobable cause (see generally Brinegar v United States, 338 US 160, 175 [1949];People v Bigelow, 66 NY2d 417, 423 [1985]). Concur—Renwick, J.P., Gische,Kahn, Kern, Moulton, JJ.