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People v. Copeland

The People of the State of New York v. Don Copeland

People v. Copeland, 355 N.E.2d 288 (N.Y. 1976)
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Court
New York Court of Appeals · State Highest Courts
Decided
July 6, 1976
Citations
355 N.E.2d 28839 N.Y.2d 986387 N.Y.S.2d 2341976 N.Y. LEXIS 2931
Cited by 32 3 descriptions by later courts

Opinion of the Court

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

Memorandum. The order of the Appellate Term should be affirmed.

In the early morning hours a patrolman stopped the automobile defendant was driving after it had been observed weaving from lane to lane. On being asked for his driver’s license, defendant stated that he did not possess a license, and he was thereupon arrested for violation of section 509 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law (CPL 140.10, subd 1, par [a]). Further inquiry disclosed that defendant carried no identification. The arresting officer then frisked him, and when defendant emptied his pockets the contraband fell out.

Without the available data on which to prepare a uniform *987 traffic summons and confronted with the driver of a weaving car who possessed no operator’s license, we can only conclude that this arrest was warranted and that the search of defendant’s person incident thereto was surely lawful (cf. People v Troiano, 35 NY2d 476 ). Accordingly, the motion to suppress was properly denied.

Chief Judge Breitel and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Cooke concur.

Order affirmed in a memorandum.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 3 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

Cited by 32 cases

View all citing references →
1977: 31982: 21984: 21985: 21986: 31987: 21989: 11990: 11991: 11993: 11994: 11995: 11996: 11997: 11999: 22005: 12008: 12010: 22014: 12019: 12024: 12026: 119772026peak 1977 · 3

Relies on it most ⓘ

  1. United States v. Barber839 F. Supp. 193 (W.D.N.Y. 1993)
  2. Evans v. Solomon681 F. Supp. 2d 233 (E.D.N.Y. 2010)
  3. In re Jamal S.123 A.D.3d 429 (2014)
  4. Wachtler v. County Of Herkimer35 F.3d 77 (2d Cir. 1994)
  5. People v. Ellis465 N.E.2d 826 (N.Y. 1984)
  6. People v. Erwin369 N.E.2d 1170 (N.Y. 1977)

Most recent

  1. Charles Amara v. Jonathan Hattenrath; Christopher Johnson; Donald A. Ouimet, Jr.; and Dylan OsborneNo. 3:25-cv-00380 (N.D.N.Y. Mar. 9, 2026)
  2. People v. Essic2024 NY Slip Op 51517(U) (N.Y. Sup. Kings 2024)
  3. People v. Chipo (Fatima)No. 2019 NYSlipOp 51026(U) (N.Y. App. Term. June 24, 2019)
  4. In re Jamal S.123 A.D.3d 429 (2014)
  5. People v. Bulgin29 Misc. 3d 286 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2010)
  6. Evans v. Solomon681 F. Supp. 2d 233 (E.D.N.Y. 2010)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 1

DepthCaseCited by
People v. Troiano, 323 N.E.2d 183 (N.Y. 1974) 76

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