Drug, gun conviction tossed after court finds State Police search unlawful

ALBANY — New York's second-highest court reversed a Syracuse man's drug and weapons conviction Thursday, ruling that State Police conducted an unlawful search of his vehicle during a 2020 traffic stop in Sullivan County. The Appellate Division found that troopers lacked departmental protocols governing inventory searches and that evidence of a loaded magazine, ammunition, handguns and drugs discovered in the vehicle should have been suppressed. Jamell Russ had been convicted of criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon following the June 2020 stop in the town of Liberty.

The court determined the inventory search was pretextual, designed to uncover incriminating evidence rather than protect property or officer safety. Troopers found contraband hidden throughout the vehicle — in the center console, steering wheel column and clothing bag — while omitting legitimate items from the inventory log, signaling investigative intent rather than administrative purpose. The case will now return to lower court.