People v. Washington

OPINION OF THE COURT

Leventhal, J.

This case calls upon us to address a matter of first impression involving the right to counsel under the New York Constitution (see NY Const, art I, § 6), where the defendant consented to a chemical breath test to determine her blood alcohol content (hereinafter BAG), but, prior to the commencement of the test, the police made no effort to inform the defendant that her attorney had appeared in the matter. For the reasons which follow, we hold that where, as here, the police are aware that an attorney has appeared in a case before the chemical breath test…