People v. Chalfa

50 Misc. 2d 845, 271 N.Y.S.2d 881, 1966 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1701
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 8, 1966
StatusPublished

This text of 50 Misc. 2d 845 (People v. Chalfa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Chalfa, 50 Misc. 2d 845, 271 N.Y.S.2d 881, 1966 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1701 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1966).

Opinion

Charles M. Hughes, J.

The Grand Jury -of the County of Saratoga during the Trial Term of May, 1965, returned an indictment against Andrew Francis Chalía, Jr. and Janet K. Chalía, his wife. The indictment contained two counts, the first of which charged them with the crime of manslaughter in the second degree in violation of section 1052 of the Penal Law in that on or about and between January 19, 1965 and January 21, 1965, they inflicted wounds upon their son Andrew Francis Chalía, III, which resulted in his death. The second count charged a violation of section 242 of the Penal Law, which is assault in the second degree, alleging one having been committed upon young Chalía between the dates of January 19, 1965 and January 21,1965, Apparently the child was two years of age at the time of the commission of the alleged crime.

Manslaughter in the second degree is defined, as follows: “ § 1052. Manslaughter in second degree defined. Such homicide is manslaughter in the second degree, when committed without a design to effect death: * * * 2. In the heat of passion, but not by a dangerous weapon or by the use of means either cruel or unusual ”,

Assault in the second degree is defined as follows: “ § 242. Assault in second degree. A person who, under circumstances not amounting to the crime specified in section two hundred and forty * * * 3. Wilfully and wrongfully wounds or inflicts grievous bodily harm upon another, either with or without a weapon ”.

After the alleged commission of the crime, and on or about the 22nd day of January, 1965, the defendants Andrew Francis Chalia, Jr. and Janet K. Chalia were taken into custody and an alleged confession was obtained from each of them on that day, sworn to before William E. Ebel, a notary public. The statement of Andrew Francis Chalia, Jr. was taken by R. J. Amszynski, a member of the New York State Police, and the statement of Janet K. Chalia was taken by Roger J. Dorn, likewise a member of the New York State Police. The title of Amszynski was that of an Investigator, and that of Roger J. Dorn was that of a Senior Investigator.

The defendant Janet K. Chalía was held in custody to await the action of a Grand Jury, and Edmond N. Amyot, Esq., was assigned as her counsel by the Honorable Michael E. Sweeney, Justice of the Supreme Court.

During the May 1965 Term presided over by this court, the indictment was returned and this court assigned Joseph E. Rosch, Esq., as counsel for the defendant Andrew Francis Chalía, Jr.

[847]*847Every step was taken by the assigned counsel to protect the rights of these defendants from the date of their assignment. The defendants were duly arraigned and thereafter a motion was made by their counsel for an inspection of the Grand Jury minutes and, in the alternative, to dismiss the indictment. The court ordered the delivery of the minutes taken before the Grand Jury to the court which were read by the court on several occasions. As a result of the reading of these minutes, it was felt that certain prejudicial evidence was offered before the Grand Jury, and thereupon it was ordered that the inspection of the same be granted unto the counsel for the defendants.

The proceedings were adjourned before this court from time to time, and on the 15th day of November, 1965, this court felt that there was sufficient evidence to warrant the retention of the indictments and denied the motion to dismiss.

Thereafter, motions were made for a bill of particulars which the court granted. In fact, these motions were made December 17 of that same year. The demands for a bill of particulars contained nine requests, three of which were furnished by the District Attorney, namely, as to the place where the alleged crime was committed which stated that it was in and about a trailer owned by the defendant located at the Midway Mobile Village located in the Town of Half mo on, Saratoga County, New York. The second item in the bill of particulars alleged the instrumentalities used, and the third furnished the alleged cause of death.

Great stress was laid by the defense counsel that the indictment as to the manslaughter count alleged that it took place on or between January 19, 1965 and January 21, 1965 and that the requirement of the statute that it was done in the heat of passion was a physical impossibility if it occurred between these respective dates.

Upon the return of the motion for a bill of particulars, the District Attorney very candidly stated that that was as specific as he could be as to the time of the occurrence of the alleged crime.

Based upon the bill of particulars, the court again entertained a motion to dismiss the indictments based upon the bill of particulars as furnished, coupled with the reading of the Grand Jury minutes. This court was going to concern itself with the sufficiency of the evidence based upon the Grand Jury minutes and the bill of particulars as furnished, as well as the alleged confession of each of the defendants, and may the court state that the alleged confession was furnished to counsel for the [848]*848defendants by the District Attorney as the court was going to grant the same.

During the pendency of the proceedings which had been again adjourned from the 3rd day of June, 1966 until the 8th day of July, 1966, due to the illness of this court, a decision was handed down by the United States Supreme Court on the 14th day of June, 1966. The decision appeared in the United States Law Week at 34 L. W. 4521, and was entitled Miranda v. Arizona, together with three other writs. (384 U. S. 436.)

In 1964, the Supreme Court had handed down a decision in Escobedo v. Illinois (378 U. S. 478). This decision dealt with the obtaining of a confession from the defendant. Quoting from the recent Miranda case, at page 440 the Supreme Court stated the following: We dealt with certain phases of this problem recently in Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U. S. 478 (1964). There, as in the four cases before us, law enforcement officials took the defendant into custody and interrogated him in a police station for the purpose of obtaining a confession. The police did not effectively advise him of his right to remain silent or of his right to consult with his attorney. Bather, they confronted him with an alleged accomplice who accused him of having perpetrated a murder. When the defendant denied the accusation and said ‘I didn’t shoot Manuel, you did it,’ they handcuffed him and took him to an interrogation room. There, while handcuffed and standing, he was questioned for four hours until he confessed. During this interrogation, the police denied his request to speak to his attorney, and they prevented his retained attorney, who had come to the police station, from consulting with him. At his trial, the State, over his objection, introduced the confession against him. We held that the statements thus made were constitutionally inadmissible.”

After the handing down of the Escobedo decision by the Supreme Court, the court indicated it would formulate guide rules as to the obtaining of a confession, which the court has done in the Miranda

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Related

Douglas v. California
372 U.S. 353 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Escobedo v. Illinois
378 U.S. 478 (Supreme Court, 1964)
Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Gideon v. Wainwright
372 U.S. 335 (Supreme Court, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
50 Misc. 2d 845, 271 N.Y.S.2d 881, 1966 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-chalfa-nysupct-1966.