People v. Carrabotta

2 Misc. 3d 685, 774 N.Y.S.2d 279, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1587
CourtCriminal Court of the City of New York
DecidedDecember 10, 2003
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2 Misc. 3d 685 (People v. Carrabotta) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Criminal Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Carrabotta, 2 Misc. 3d 685, 774 N.Y.S.2d 279, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1587 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Joseph Zayas, J.

The felony complaint in this matter originally charged defendant with unlawful practice of the profession of massage in violation of Education Law § 6512 (1), a class E felony. Upon the People’s prompt application to reduce the felony complaint pursuant to CPL 180.50, the felony charge was reduced to attempted unlawful practice of the profession of massage in violation of Penal Law § 110.00 and Education Law § 6512 (1). Defendant now moves to dismiss the accusatory instrument on the ground that the foregoing attempt charge is a nonexistent crime.

The court agrees that the reduced charge of attempted unlawful practice of the profession of massage is a nonexistent crime. The only real question for the court is whether the appropriate remedy is to dismiss the reduced charge and the accusatory instrument, or reinstate the felony complaint.

The Reduced Charge of Attempted Unlawful Practice of a Profession is a Nonexistent Crime

Education Law § 6512 (1), entitled “Unauthorized practice a crime,” provides, in pertinent part, that “Anyone not authorized to practice under this title who practices or offers to practice or holds himself out as being able to practice in any profession in which a license is a prerequisite to the practice of the acts1 . . . shall be guilty of a class E felony.” A corollary statute, Education Law § 7802, provides that a license is required for the practice of massage.

The factual portion of the accusatory instrument sets forth the following allegations:

“Deponent [police officer] states that he is informed [687]*687by . . . Undercover Det. #7646 that at [a specified] date, time, and place of occurrence . . . the defendant . . . did offer and agree to perform unlicense [szc] massage to said undercover in exchange of forty dollars United States currency. Deponent states that defendant did not possess a New York State license to practice such massage.”

A supporting deposition from the undercover detective accompanies the accusatory instrument, as does a certified record from the Division of Professional Licensing Services of the New York State Education Department, corroborating deponent’s allegation that defendant is not licensed to practice massage therapy.

On the adjourned date following defendant’s arraignment on the felony complaint, the People successfully sought, pursuant to CPL 180.50, to reduce the foregoing class E felony to a class A misdemeanor, attempted unlawful practice of the profession of massage in violation of Penal Law § 110.00 and Education Law § 6512 (1). Upon the CPL 180.50 reduction, the matter was adjourned to an all purpose part and defendant promptly moved to dismiss the accusatory instrument on the ground that the foregoing attempt charge is a nonexistent crime.

Because the extraordinarily expansive statutory language in Education Law § 6512 (1) (“practices or offers to practice or holds himself out as being able to practice”), as charged here, already fully embraces an attempt to practice, the court agrees that attempted unlawful practice of the profession of massage is a nonexistent crime. (See People v Lupinos, 176 Misc 2d 852, 854-855 [Crim Ct, Richmond County 1998]; People v Ching Fong, 186 Misc 2d 477, 479 [Crim Ct, NY County 2000].)

In People v Jelke (1 NY2d 321, 330 [1956]), the Court of Appeals ruled that an attempt is itself already a completed crime under a substantive criminal statute, if “the statutory definition of the essence of a crime is the attempt to do a certain act” (emphasis added). The nature of the attempt is often included in the actual statutory language of the penal provision, as in the statute defining resisting arrest, Penal Law § 205.30 (“when he intentionally prevents or attempts to prevent a police officer . . . from effecting an authorized arrest” [emphasis added]); the statute defining obstructing governmental administration, Penal Law § 195.05 (“when he . . . prevents or attempts to prevent a public servant from performing an official function” [emphasis added]); the statute defining intimidating a witness in the third [688]*688degree, Penal Law § 215.15 (1) (“when . . . he . . . [w]rongfully compels or attempts to compel such other person to refrain from communicating such information to any court” [emphasis added]); and the statute defining tampering with a witness in the third degree, Penal Law § 215.11 (1) (“when . . . [h]e wrongfully compels or attempts to compel such person to absent himself... at such proceeding” [emphasis added]).

Sometimes, however, the nature of the attempt is evinced by the broad and expansive attempt like language of the penal statute, as in the provision defining jostling, Penal Law § 165.25 (“when ... he intentionally and unnecessarily . . . [p]laces his hand in the proximity of a person’s pocket”), along with case law defining the crime as an attempt (People v Thomas, 36 NY2d 514, 517 [1975] [the crime of jostling “is essentially aimed at the stealthy pickpocket, who surreptitiously attempts to secure the personal property of his victim” (emphasis added)]).

Because the foregoing crimes are already attempt like offenses, they are not amenable to being charged as an attempt under Penal Law § 110.00, nor are they amenable to being reduced by amending the accusatory portion of an accusatory instrument to add Penal Law § 110.00 and the word “attempted” prior to the original charge. As the Appellate Term held in People v Lynn (115 Misc 2d 76, 77 [App Term, 2d Dept 1982]), “ ‘[T]here cannot be an attempt to commit a crime which is itself a mere attempt to do an act or accomplish a result’ ” (citations omitted).

Where the People do charge an attempt to commit such an attempt like offense, by the expedient of reduction or otherwise, courts find that such an offense constitutes a “nonexistent crime” (id. at 77), or a “hypothetical charge” (People v Howlett, 76 Misc 2d 801 [App Term, 1st Dept 1973]). Thus, courts have found that the following charged offenses constitute nonexistent crimes: attempted resisting arrest (People v Howlett, supra, 76 Misc 2d 801 [1973]); attempted jostling (People v Lynn, supra, 115 Misc 2d at 77); attempted obstruction of governmental administration (People v Schmidt, 76 Misc 2d 976, 978 [Crim Ct, Bronx County 1974]); attempted intimidation of a witness in the third degree (People v Diaz, 146 Misc 2d 260, 264 [Crim Ct, Bronx County 1990]); and attempted tampering with a witness in the third degree (People v Sajous, 173 Misc 2d 55, 59 [Nassau Dist Ct 1997]).

In People v Lupinos (176 Misc 2d at 854-855), the court likewise held that the charge of attempted unlawful practice of [689]*689the profession of massage is a nonexistent crime. (Accord People v Ching Fong, supra, 186 Misc 2d at 479 [Crim Ct, NY County 2000].) This court agrees with the foregoing holding and expressly finds that attempted unlawful practice under Penal Law § 110.00 and the subsection of Education Law § 6512 (1) charged here is a nonexistent crime.

As charged here, Education Law § 6512 (1) prohibits, by its express language, anyone from “practic[ing] or offer[ing] to practice or hold[ing] himself out as being able to practice” an unlicensed profession, including massage therapy (Education Law § 7802).2

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Related

People v. Benjamin
20 Misc. 3d 661 (Criminal Court of the City of New York, 2008)
People v. Pao Fun
16 Misc. 3d 917 (Criminal Court of the City of New York, 2007)
People v. Pignatello
15 Misc. 3d 833 (New York Supreme Court, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
2 Misc. 3d 685, 774 N.Y.S.2d 279, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-carrabotta-nycrimct-2003.