People v. Gissendanner | |
---|---|
Court | New York Court of Appeals |
Full case name | The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Vida Gissendanner, Appellant. |
Argued | November 13 1979 |
Decided | December 17 1979 |
Citation(s) | 48 N.Y.2d 543 |
Holding | |
Affirmed the judgment of conviction |
People v. Gissendanner, 48 N.Y.2d 543 (1979), was an important decision by the Court of Appeals of New York that placed limits on the ability of a defendant to subpoena personnel records of police officers. [1]
Undercover police officers in Irondequoit, New York, conducted a drug sting and arrested Vida Gissendanner. [2] Gissendanner disputed the events described by officers and counsel attempted to subpoena their records for cross-examination, which the court refused to sign based on a lack of a "factual basis" since such records are considered confidential unless consent is given by the officer or a court order. A jury found Gissendanner guilty of selling cocaine and she received a one year to life sentence. [3]
The case established a burden of relevance for defendants wishing to access police records to confront witnesses and find exculpatory evidence. [4] The court ruled that "there is no compulsion when requests to examine records are motivated by nothing more than impeachment of witnesses' general credibility". [5]
A defense counsel request to access police records is now known as a Gissendanner motion. [2]