Appellate Division upholds ruling on controversial search warrant in assault case

February 16, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle, Appellate Division, Second Department.
Photo courtesy of NY State Bar Association

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In a recent ruling, the Appellate Division, Second Department has affirmed a decision concerning a contentious search warrant in the case of The People v. Fabrice Riche. Riche was convicted of first-degree assault following a jury verdict in Kings County Supreme Court on Harrington, on July 12, 2019.

The case revolved around the stabbing of Riche’s estranged wife’s boyfriend in November 2016. Central to Riche’s appeal was the challenge to a search warrant that allowed the Kings County District Attorney’s Office to obtain historical cell site location information and call detail records from T-Mobile for both Riche’s and his wife’s phone numbers.

Riche’s defense argued that the warrant’s execution was invalid as it was faxed to T-Mobile’s office in New Jersey, and he contended that this breached New York State’s jurisdictional requirements.

The trial court denied Riche’s request to suppress the evidence obtained through the warrant, stating the warrant’s execution within New York State was valid as it was faxed from within the jurisdiction.

Upon review, the Appellate Division, led by Presiding Justice Hector LaSalle, held that the execution of the search warrant was indeed within the jurisdictional bounds of New York. The court reasoned that the warrant’s execution occurred where the law enforcement action — faxing the warrant to T-Mobile — was performed, which was in Kings County, New York. The Appellate Division’s ruling reinforces the state’s ability to procure digital records in criminal investigations, even when the data resides out-of-state.