PEOPLE v. CAMPBELL

Defendant's suppression motion was properly denied. The record supports the court's determination that, in the course of a valid traffic stop, defendant's sudden placement of his hand behind his back was sufficiently suspicious to warrant the officer's minimal intrusion (see, People v. DeBour, 40 N.Y.2d 210, 221; see also,People v. Cruz, 43 N.Y.2d 786) of placing his own hand on defendant's back to prevent him from possibly drawing a weapon. When defendant turned away from the officer, the officer's hand slipped down defendant's back to the waistband area, resulting in the officer's accidental feeling of a hard object that the officer recognized to be a pistol. The officer's instinctive self-protective action was not a frisk, nor even an attempt to ascertain whether a weapon was present (see, People v. Chin, 192 A.D.2d 413, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 1071).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.