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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug related and firearm charges |
Sentence: |
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Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2013 |
Year Convicted: |
2013 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Monroe |
City of Crime: |
Rochester |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Elfin Elliott was wrongly convicted on September 13, 2013 of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. Elliott was one of five or six people who dispersed when the police approached, near a field in Rochester, New York where marijuana was found the day before in a field. A police officer observed Elliott "“quickly grab near his waistband area” and then he got into a nearby SUV and bent over in the front seat where he was sitting. The police searched Elliott and the vehicle. Marijuana was found under the front seat and a loaded handgun was recovered from his waistband. The trial judge denied Elliott's motion to suppress all the evidence recovered during the search because the police did not have reasonable suspicion that he was involved in any illegal activity. Elliott then pled guilty to the gun and drug charges on the condition he could appeal the legality of the search. On June 17, 2016 the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Div., Fourth Dept,, unanimously vacated Elliott's guilty plea and ordered dismissal of indictment based on insufficient evidence due to exclusion of the evidence obtained illegally without reasonable suspicion for a search. The Court's ruling stated: "We agree with defendant that the arresting sergeant lacked the requisite reasonable suspicion. ... defendant’s actions in merely “grabbing” at his waistline and bending down to the floor of the vehicle, without more, were insufficient to provide the sergeant with the requisite suspicion that defendant committed a crime, and to justify defendant’s gunpoint detention. [] Inasmuch as the forcible detention of defendant was unlawful, the handgun and other physical evidence seized by the police, and the statements made by defendant to the police following the unlawful seizure, should have been suppressed. As a result, defendant’s guilty plea must be vacated and the indictment dismissed ..." (New York v. Elfin Elliott, KA 13-01689 (NY Sup. Ct., App. Div., 4th Dept, June 23, 2016)" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On June 17, 2016 the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Div., Fourth Dept,, unanimously vacated Elliott's guilty plea and ordered dismissal of indictment based on insufficient evidence due to exclusion of the evidence obtained illegally without reasonable suspicion for a search." |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"The People of the State of New York v. Elfin Elliott, KA 13-01689 (New York Supreme Court, Appellate Div., Fourth Dept, June 23, 2016) (Vacating guilty plea and ordering dismissal of indictment based on insufficient evidence due to exclusion of evidence obtained illegally without reasonable suspicion for a search.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/ad4/clerk/Decisions/2016/06-17-16/PDF/0515.pdf |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org