What is the difference between a police officer's response to a request for information about an arrest warrant and the fact that the police officer responded to the request with an incriminating comment?

On essential points this case is indistinguishable from our decision in People v. Lynes, 49 N.Y.2d 286, 425 N.Y.S.2d 295, 401 N.E.2d 405, supra. In that case the defendant also requested information about a warrant and made an incriminating comment when the police officer responded to the inquiry. Although the majority now finds that case distinguishable because the officer there had no knowledge or connection with the charge, had not conveyed a contrary impression to the defendant, and had not advised the defendant of his rights, those were not the factors which were considered controlling when the case was decided. ³ On the contrary the opinion simply emphasized that the "defendant himself initiated the conversation", that there was no extended discussion but only a "brief exchange", and that by responding to the defendant's inquiry as he did, the officer may "well have intended to discourage further colloquy" ( People v. Lynes, supra, pp. 294, 295, 425 N.Y.S.2d 295, 401 N.E.2d 405). Focusing on those factors, also present in this case, we held in Lynes that the courts below could properly find that the defendant's statement was spontaneous.