ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York's highest court has thrown out the warrant used to convict a Chenango County man of possessing child pornography, concluding a state trooper wrote the name of a "non-existent town" and a local justice signed it with an illegible scrawl.
The Court of Appeals says the warrant failed to comply with the requirement to identify the court that issued it, granting a defense motion to suppress the evidence against John Gavazzi of the Chenango County village of Greene.
Five judges say that requirement preserves a citizen's constitutionally guaranteed right.
The trooper typed "Local Criminal Court, Town of Broome, Broome County."
The town of Broome is in Schoharie County.
In a dissent, Judge Robert Smith says the name requirement is essentially a formality and that "sloppiness" is regrettable but doesn't endanger anyone's liberty.
