Mahabir v. Kelly

215 A.D.2d 280, 627 N.Y.S.2d 346, 1995 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5513

Opinion

Determination of the respondent Police Commissioner dated April 7, 1993, which dismissed petitioner from his position as a police officer, is unanimously confirmed, the petition denied, and the proceeding brought pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this Court by order of the Supreme Court, New York County [Edith Miller, J.], entered November 16, 1993), dismissed, without costs.

The testimony of respondents’ investigators and handwriting expert provides substantial evidence supporting respondents’ determination that petitioner mailed a death threat to the Governor, signing the name of a person with whom he had a recent traffic altercation and to whom he mailed a threatening letter containing a racial slur. Such conduct, if proven in court, would constitute the crime of aggravated harassment in the second degree (Penal Law § 240.30 [1]), and therefore is not subject to the 18-month limitation period of Civil Service Law § 75 (4). Petitioner’s otherwise unblemished record notwithstanding, we view the penalty of dismissal as altogether appropriate. Concur—Rosenberger, J. P., Kupferman, Asch and Tom, JJ.