NY4: Drug testing condition of probation unenforceable without showing def needs it

Defendant’s drug testing condition of probation is unenforceable because there were no findings of drug or alcohol abuse in his past to justify it. People v. Saraceni, 2017 NY Slip Op 06732, 2017 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6746 (4th Dept. Sept. 29, 2017):

We agree with defendant that the document he signed requiring him to consent to waive his Fourth Amendment right protecting him from unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, home, and personal property, and to submit to chemical tests of his breath, blood, or urine, is not enforceable because it was not related to the probationary goal of rehabilitation (see People v Mead, 133 AD3d 1257, 1258). The waiver and consent to search was ostensibly based on defendant’s acknowledgment that his criminal behavior was related to drug/alcohol abuse, but in fact there was no evidence that defendant was under the influence of alcohol or drugs when he committed the offense or had a history of drug or alcohol abuse (see id.; cf. King, 151 AD3d at 1653). For similar reasons, we agree with defendant that special condition nine of the conditions of probation, which required him to abstain from the use or possession of alcoholic beverages and to submit to appropriate alcohol testing, is also not enforceable and must be stricken.