MIRANDA WARNINGS IN BUILDING VIOLATIONS

People v. Gray, 2017 NY Slip Op 27204 - NY: Village Justice Court 2017:

"In addition, the court now holds in a second point of first impression that when a building inspector has made a determination to charge a defendant, that they must provide the defendants with Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602 (1966) warnings. We are a Local Criminal Court and therefore, the protections provided for individual defendants under our Constitution must apply here.

Police will often withhold the giving of Miranda, supra warnings during the course of an "investigation." Here the People have averred in their supporting papers that evidence outside of the search such as what they obtained online, supra, caused them to conclude that the defendant had violated at least eight Code provisions. Knowing that before going to the home gave them probable cause but it also mandated that they advise the defendant of his rights before recording statements from him.

Today this Village Court provides for two new provisions in the law which will henceforth apply in this Court and hopefully others that may choose to follow this holding. The first part of these new procedures which the Court is deciding for the first time only because they have not presented themselves previously to the best of its knowledge, is that compliance with C.P.L. § 710.30 shall be required as a prerquisite for the admission of any statements by a defendant. Second, when a Building Inspector, finds that he or she is going to issue violations they must give the prospective defendant Miranda, supra, warnings.

Since the People have stated at oral argument that they do not intend to offer any statements of the defendant at trial, except for his consent, these issues as referred to herein are dicta and meant to provide notice that this Court is a Local Criminal Court and as such endeavors to comply with the Criminal Procedure Law of New York as well as the federal and New York State Constitutions."