People v. Arnstein

128 Misc. 176, 218 N.Y.S. 633, 1926 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 788
CourtNew York Court of General Session of the Peace
DecidedNovember 15, 1926
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 128 Misc. 176 (People v. Arnstein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of General Session of the Peace primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Arnstein, 128 Misc. 176, 218 N.Y.S. 633, 1926 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 788 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1926).

Opinion

Rosalsky, J.

The grand jury of New York county, on February 17, 1920, found an indictment (No. 129934) against the defendant [177]*177and one John McGilroy, charging them with the crime of criminally receiving stolen property in the first degree.

On March 30, 1920, that body found two additional indictments (Nos. 129927 and 129928) against the defendant, charging him with the crimes of grand larceny in the first degree and criminally receiving stolen property in the first degree and with the crime of criminally receiving stolen property in the first degree, respectively.

Indictment No. 129934 alleges that on November 5, 1919, the defendant and McGilroy, in the county of New York, criminally received two certificates representing 200 shares of stock of the Crucible Steel Company of America, the property of Clark, Childs & Company.

Indictment No. 129927 alleges, in the first count, that on October 1, 1919, the defendant, in the county of New York, feloniously stole three certificates representing 300 shares of stock of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company, the property of Filor, Bullard & Smythe and of Merrill Lynch & Company, and five certificates representing 500 shares of stock of the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Steamship Company, the property of H. P. Goldschmidt & Company and of Clark, Childs & Company. In the second count it alleges that on the same day the defendant criminally received the property mentioned in the first count.

Indictment No. 129928 alleges that on October 13, 1919, the defendant, in the county of New York, criminally received three certificates representing 300 shares of stock of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company, the property of Filor, Bullard & Smythe and of Merrill Lynch & Company, and five certificates representing 500 shares of stock of the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Steamship Company, the property of H. P. Goldschmidt & Company and of Clark, Childs & Company.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the three indictments.

On October 4, 1920, an indictment was filed in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia accusing the defendant and others of a violation of section 37 of the Federal Penal Code. It was therein alleged that on the 1st day of October, 1919, in the county of New York, the defendant and others entered into a conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States of America by feloniously bringing into the District of Columbia stolen certificates of stock. The overt acts alleged in this indictment are as follows:

That on October 1, 1919, in the city of New York, one of the members of the said conspiracy did unlawfully take out of the possession of H. P. Goldschmidt & Company two certificates repre[178]*178senting 200 shares of stock of the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Steamship Lines, the property of said H. P. Goldschmidt & Company; that on October 15, 1919, two members of said conspiracy brought into the District of Columbia the said certificates representing 200 shares of stock of the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Steamship Lines and hypothecated the same with the Commercial National Bank of Washington as security for a loan of $20,000, which amount was paid to them; that on October 1, 1919, in the city of New York, a member of said conspiracy unlawfully took out of the possession of Filer, Bullard & Smythe one certificate representing 100 shares of stock of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company; that on October 14, 1919, two members of said conspiracy feloniously brought into the District of Columbia the said certificates representing 100 shares of stock of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Company and hypothecated the same with the Riggs National Bank as security for a loan of $20,000, which amount was paid to them; that on October 17, 1919, in the city of New York, one of the members of said conspiracy unlawfully took out of the possession of J. H. Oliphant & Company two certificates representing 200 shares of stock of the Ohio Cities Gas Company, the property of said J. H. Oliphant & Company; that on October 27, 1919, two members of said conspiracy feloniously brought into the District of Columbia the said two certificates representing 200 shares of stock of the Ohio Cities Gas Company and hypothecated the same with the Riggs National Bank as security for a loan of $25,000, which amount was paid to them; that on October 27, 1919, in the city of New York, one of the members of said conspiracy unlawfully took out of the possession of Clark, Childs & Company two certificates representing 20 shares of stock of the Baldwin Locomotive Works Company, the property of said Clark, Childs & Company, and that on November 5, 1919, two members of said conspiracy feloniously brought into the District of Columbia the said two certificates representing 20 shares of stock of the Baldwin Locomotive Works Company and hypothecated the same with the Continental Trust Company as security for a loan of $20,000, which amount was paid to them.

On May 4, 1921, the defendant was found guilty of the crime of conspiracy in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia and he was sentenced to serve a term of two years and to pay a fine of $10,000. On February 5, 1924, the Circuit Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia affirmed his conviction. The defendant thereafter applied for- a writ of error and it was denied by the Supreme Court of the United States.

The defendant now moves to dismiss the three indictments [179]*179found by the grand jury of New York county upon the grounds that his conviction in the District of Columbia of the crime of conspiracy to bring stolen certificates of stock therein was founded upon the acts set forth in the three indictments and is a sufficient defense thereto (Penal Law, § 33); and that the act charged as a crime in each of said indictments was within the jurisdiction of the United States as well as within the jurisdiction of this State and his conviction in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia of the acts set forth in said indictments is a bar to a prosecution therefor in this State. (Code Grim. Proc. § 139.)

In order that a decision may be rendered upon the merits of the defendant’s application, the district attorney states that he does not contemplate proceeding against the defendant upon the charge of grand larceny.

It has long been established in the jurisprudence of this country that where an act constitutes a violation of the law and offends both the Federal and State governments, in the absence of a statute to the contrary, both the Federal and State governments may prosecute and punish the offender. This is so because in this country we have two sovereignties, each deriving its power from different sources, and each has the undoubted right to determine under what circumstances a person shall be guilty of offending its dignity without regard to the other. To vest jurisdiction in both the Federal and State governments it must appear that the act constituting a crime is one over which both the Federal and State governments have jurisdiction. (United States v. Lanza, 260 U. S. 377; 43 Sup. Ct. 141; 67 L. Ed. 314; Moore v. Illinois, 14 How. [U. S.] 13; 14 L. Ed. 306; United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542, 550, 551; 23 L. Ed. 588, 590, 591; Ex parte Siebold,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
128 Misc. 176, 218 N.Y.S. 633, 1926 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 788, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-arnstein-nygensess-1926.