People v. Pealer

Smith, J. (concurring).

I join Judge Graffeo’s majority opinion, and add this concurrence to reply to the dissent.

I concede that my dissenting colleague has a point; like him, I am uncomfortable with what happened in this case. It presents an extreme example of the opportunities given to law enforcement officers by the United States Supreme Court’s holding in Whren v United States (517 US 806 [1996]), and ours in People v Robinson (97 NY2d 341 [2001]), that a traffic stop made with probable cause may not be challenged as pretextual—i.e., that the motive for the stop is irrelevant. Here, the…