People v. Griffin

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Sullivan County (Kane, J.), rendered November 27, 1995, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree.

Defendant was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped for an equipment violation by State Troopers James Soro and Terry Bauer. After discovering that the driver’s operator’s license was suspended and that none of three other occupants had a valid operator’s license, the Troopers impounded the vehicle and commenced an inventory search. While Soro was conducting the…