People v. Lazcano

Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting him upon a jury verdict of assault in the second degree (Penal Law § 120.05 [2]), defendant contends that County Court erred in refusing to suppress a knife seized from his jacket pocket during a pat-down search. We agree. Although “a defendant who challenges the legality of a search and seizure has the burden of proving illegality, the People are nevertheless put to the burden of going forward to show the legality of the police conduct in the first instance” (People v Berrios, 28 NY2d 361, 367 [1971] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see…