People v. Falco

67 Misc. 2d 520, 324 N.Y.S.2d 680, 1971 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1306
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 9, 1971
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 67 Misc. 2d 520 (People v. Falco) 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. Falco, 67 Misc. 2d 520, 324 N.Y.S.2d 680, 1971 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1306 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1971).

Opinion

Harold Birds, J.

The defendant has been charged in the Criminal Court with the crime of murder and is presently at liberty on $75,000 bail. The case is in the process of being presented to the Grand Jury. The District Attorney, by oral motion and not upon papers, has moved this court for an order directing the defendant to appear in a lineup for the purpose of identification. The defendant, through counsel, has appeared and has objected thereto on the ground that such evidence would not he admissible on the trial, inasmuch as the filing of the complaint which charged him with the crime constitutes the commencement of the action (CPL, § 1.20, subd. 17), and sections 60.25 and 60.30 permit such evidence of a prior identification as evidence in chief only if such identification took place prior to the commencement of the criminal proceeding.

Defendant further alleges that the only reason the District Attorney is moving for the relief sought is to give the witness another opportunity to see the defendant prior to trial, which apparently will not take place in the immediate future, and is solely for the purpose of permitting the witness to bolster the identification.

The District Attorney has argued that such a lineup is for the defendant’s benefit, in that, if the witness should fail to identify him, he will be in a better position at the trial.

Under the provisions of the 'Criminal Procedure Law, effective September 1, 1971, ‘ A criminal action is commenced by the filing of an accusatory instrument against a defendant in a criminal court (CPL, § 1.20, subd. 17), and a “ ‘ Criminal.proceeding ’ means any proceeding which (a) constitutes a part of a criminal action or (b) occurs in a criminal court and is related to a prospective, pending or completed criminal action, either of this state * * * or involves a criminal investigation.” (CPL, § 1.20, subd. 18.)

Sections 60.25 and 60.30 of the Criminal Procedure Law are denominated as “Rules of evidence”. Section 60.25 is concerned with ‘ ‘ identification by means of previous recognition, in absence of present identification ’ ’, while section 60.30 is concerned with ‘ ‘ identification by means of previous recognition, in addition to present identification.”

Section 60.25 reads as follows:

‘1 § 60.25 Rules of evidence; identification by means of previous recognition, in absence of present identification.

1. In any criminal proceeding in which the defendant’s commission of an offense is in issue, testimony as provided in subdivision two may be given by a witness when:

(a) Such witness testifies that:

[522]*522(i) He observed the person claimed by the people to be the defendant either at the time and place of the commission of the offense or upon some other occasion relevant to the case; and'

(ii) On a subsequent occasion, but prior to the criminal proceeding, he observed, under circumstances consistent with such rights as an accused person may derive under the constitution of this state or of the United States, a person whom he recognized as the same person whom he had observed on the first or incriminating occasion; and

(iii) He is unable at the proceeding to state, on the basis of present recollection, whether or not the defendant is the person in question; and

(b) It is established that the defendant is in fact the person whom the witness observed and recognized on the second occasion. Such fact may be established by testimony of another person or persons to whom the witness promptly declared his recognition on such occasion.

2. Under circumstances prescribed in subdivision one, such witness may testify at the criminal proceeding that the person whom he observed and recognized on the second occasion is the same person whom he observed on the first or incriminating occasion. Such testimony, together with the evidence that the defendant is in fact the person whom the witness observed and recognized on the second occasion, constitutes evidence in chief. ’ ’

At the outset no claim is present that the witness before the Grand Jury is unable * * * to state, on the basis of present recollection, whether or not the defendant is the person in question ” (CPU, § 60.25). Hence, at the outset, this section would appear to have no applicability to the defendant’s claim.

Section 60.30 reads as follows :

‘ ‘ § 60.30 Buies of evidence; identification by means of previous recognition, in addition to present identification.

In any criminal proceeding in which the defendant’s commission of an offense is in issue, a witness who testified that (a) he observed the person claimed by the people to be the defendant either at the time and place of the commission of the offense or upon some other occasion relevant to the case, and (b) on the basis of present 'recollection, the defendant is the person in question and (c) on a subsequent occasion, but prior to the criminal proceeding, he observed the defendant, under circumstances consistent with such rights as an accused person may derive under the constitution.of this fstate or of the United States, and then also recognized/him as the same person1 whom he had observed on the first or incriminating occasion, may, in addition to making an identification óf the defendant at the criminal pro[523]*523ceeding on the basis of present recollection as the person whom he observed on the first or incriminating occasion, also describe his previous recognition of the defendant and testify that the person whom he observed on such second occasion is the same person whom he had observed on the first or incriminating occasion. Such testimony constitutes evidence in chief.”

It is noted, as defendant emphasizes, that both sections 60.25 and 60.30 are addressed to circumstances where ‘1 In any criminal proceeding in which the defendant’s commission of an offense is in issue ”.

It is the construction to be given to this phrase which creates the primary issue here.

The defendant contends that because a criminal proceeding has already begun, and a Grand Jury inquiry is under way, the requested lineup is not to be allowed, as such lineup cannot meet the requirement that it take place “on a subsequent occasion but prior to the criminal proceeding ” (CPL, § 60.25, subd. 1, par. [a], cl. [ii]; § 60.30, subd. [c]).

The defendant also urges that the rules of evidence set forth in the Criminal Procedure Law upon which he relies (CPL, §§ 60.25, 60.30) are applicable to a Grand Jury proceeding (CPL, § 190.30).

On the other hand the District Attorney argues that the phrase “ In any criminal proceeding in which the defendant’s commission of an offense is in issue ’ ’ must be given a limited construction and that it cannot in any event refer to a Grand Jury proceeding.

The Staff Comments to these sections provide support to the District Attorney’s position. Sections 60.25 and 60.30 now in final form were first numbered in the proposed 'Criminal Procedure Law and were based upon sections 30.30 and 30.40. (See “ Proposed New York Criminal Procedure Law ” published by Edward Thompson Co. in September, 1967.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 Misc. 2d 520, 324 N.Y.S.2d 680, 1971 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-falco-nysupct-1971.