People ex rel. Valenti v. McCloskey

8 A.D.2d 74, 185 N.Y.S.2d 952, 1959 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8785
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided May 5, 1959·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Breitel, J. P.

Relators, two brothers, appeal from the dismissal by Special Term of writs of habeas corpus obtained by them to secure their release from custody. Since August, 1958 they have been held in civil custody under orders of the Supreme Court issued pursuant to section 406 of the Civil Practice Act.

On November 14, 1957, in the rural town of Apalachin in Tioga County up-State New York, a group of men, numbering about 60, assembled at the home of one Joseph Barbara. They came unaccompanied by their wives or other female companions. Indeed, there were no women at the place except, perhaps, for the wife and daughter of the host, Barbara. The bulk of the men had criminal records, some short and some long. Some came from far-away, even foreign, places. Most had been involved in suspect activities at one time or another associated with, to use the vernacular terms, gambling, racketeering and narcotics. Because the State Police in the area became suspicious they entered the premises. Many of the men fled by foot or in their automobiles; the remainder were held and questioned at the troopers’ barracks. A common explanation given for their presence was that they had come to visit Joseph Barbara, a sick friend.

The meeting, which received a great deal of newspaper notoriety, resulted in a number of official investigations to uncover the purpose of the assemblage. Among those investigations [77]*77was one conducted by the State Commission of Investigation.

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People ex rel. Valenti v. McCloskey, 8 A.D.2d 74, 185 N.Y.S.2d 952, 1959 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8785 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1959).

8 A.D.2d 74 (People ex rel. Valenti v. McCloskey) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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