People v. Leach

42 Misc. 2d 143, 247 N.Y.S.2d 198, 1964 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2016
CourtNew York County Courts
DecidedFebruary 28, 1964
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 42 Misc. 2d 143 (People v. Leach) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York County Courts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Leach, 42 Misc. 2d 143, 247 N.Y.S.2d 198, 1964 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2016 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1964).

Opinion

Charles J. Gaughan, J.

Both defendants were indicted for murder in the first degree and other related noncapital felonies on February 4, 1964, and have pleaded not guilty to the indictments. A motion was made on behalf of defendant Robert Hayes seeking permission of this court to hire two alienists or psychiatrists at county expense to examine Hayes and report their findings to defense counsel alone, under authority of section 308 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. At the time of argument, the motion was orally enlarged requesting maps, surveys and diagrams of the scene of the crime in the possession of the police or District Attorney; photographs of the scene of the crime and the immediate vicinity in the possession of the police or the District Attorney; the autopsy report of the deceased; and permission to hire a stenographer at county expense to record interviews of witnesses. The District Attorney opposed all relief not set forth in the moving papers for failure of notice, and alleged there was not satisfactory proof of necessity entitling Hayes to the use of alienists at county expense.

Shortly thereafter, counsel for Carla Leach similarly moved for permission to hire two alienists or psychiatrists at county expense. This motion was opposed solely on procedural grounds.

Since the basic relief sought is identical and Robert Hayes and Carla Leach are codefendants, both motions will be disposed of herein.

The original enactment of section 308 of the Code of Criminal Procedure merely provided ‘ If the defendant appear for arraignment, without counsel, he must be asked if he desires the aid of counsel, and if he does, the court must assign counsel ” (L. 1881, eh. 442). Subsequent amendments, referring solely to capital cases, successively provided for “ reasonable compensation ” for the assigned attorney (L. 1893, ch. 521), which was later limited to $500, and counsel allowed “ personal [145]*145and incidental expenses upon a verified statement thereof ’ ’ (L. 1897, ch. 427); employment of expert witnesses by defendant “ not exceeding the number sworn or to be sworn for the prosecution ” (L. 1918, ch. 242); daily copy of testimony for the defendant (L. 1923, ch. 355); and employment of expert witnesses by the defendant where the affirmative presentation of evidence is incumbent on the defendant “upon satisfactory proof of the necessity therefor ” (L. 1933, ch. 591). Other amendments not specifically cited herein increased the limit of the allowance for attorneys’ services and compensation for expert witnesses; enlarged the section’s application to appeal or other disposition other than trial; or merely reflected necessary charges required to supplement other amendments of other sections.

The history of the prior decisions construing this section clearly indicate a definite rejection by the courts of the authority to extend the expenditure of the funds to eases not clearly falling within the four corners of the statutory language. ‘ ‘ The State has charged its civil subdivisions with a restricted liability for the services of counsel. It has not charged them as an incident with an unrestricted liability for the services of others, not counsel, employed at a price to ferret out the evidence available against it. 1 Only clear warrant of law will justify the assumption of power to control the public purse ’ (People ex rel. Rand v. Craig, 231 N. Y. 216, 221).” (Matter of Reilly v. Berry, 250 N. Y. 456, 460.) Thus, prior to the amendment of 1918 permitting a defendant to employ expert witnesses, the words “ personal and incidental ’’were not interpreted to include expert witness fees. (People ex rel. Cantwell v. Coler, 61 App. Div. 598, affd. 168 N. Y. 643.) Similarly, daily copy costs were disallowed as not being “ personal and incidental ” expense of counsel, before the amendment of 1923 (People ex rel. Levy v. Grout, 37 Misc. 430; Matter of Kenney v. Prendergast, 153 App. Div. 325) and expert witness expenses could not be charged to the county by the defendant if the prosecution did not use expert witnesses, prior to the amendment of 1933. (Matter of Reilly v. Berry, supra; People v. Jimerson, 140 Misc. 55.)

The meaning of “ personal and incidental ” under this section of the code was first considered in People ex rel, Cantwell v. Coler (supra, pp. 599, 600) in refusing to charge the public with defendant’s expenses for expert witnesses. “ They were undoubtedly expenses of a trial, such as would ordinarily be borne by a party to an action. The personal and incidental expenses for the payment of which provision is made are such as relate to those incurred by counsel on his personal account. The word ‘ 'incidental ’ as used in the statute, is associated with [146]*146the word ‘ personal, ’ and is used conjunctively. It does not confer authority upon the counsel to make contracts of a special character involving a large liability to be cast upon the county, for by the section of the Code cited the compensation and personal and incidental expenses of counsel are made a county charge. The word ‘incidental,’ as used in the statute, must be construed in accordance with its ordinary meaning, which is: ‘ Of minor importance, occasional, casual, as incidental expenses; ’ ‘ something subordinate or casual; often used in the plural to mean minor expenses.’ (Century Diet.) ”. In line with this construction are decisions excluding as personal and incidental, expenses for daily copy (People ex rel. Levy v. Grout, supra), assistants employed to find witnesses, take statements and marshall the evidence (Matter of Waldheimer, 84 App. Div. 366), daily copy and pretrial interpreter (Matter of Kenney v. Prendergast, supra), specialists to consult with counsel before trial concerning the condition of the defendant’s mind, transcript of Coroner’s inquest and witness travel expenses (People ex rel. Van Zandt v. Prendergast, 157 App. Div 486 [1913]), travel expenses and cost of interviewing and procuring witnesses (Matter of Kraushaar v. Berry, 227 App. Div. 395), private detective for investigation and report as to character of prosecution witness (Matter of Reilly v. Berry, supra), investigator and secretarial services (People v. Marx, 10 Misc 2d 1053) and investigator (People v. Konono, 41 Misc 2d 63). In People ex rel. Levy v. Grout (supra) expenses of an interpreter were allowed where it appeared that counsel could not communicate with his client without an interpreter, and in Matter of Monfort (78 App. Div. 567, 569) a survey expense was allowed where the survey was introduced in evidence. It would appear then from the survey of all these decisions that merely because expenses have been incurred as would ordinarily be borne by a party defendant in the proper presentation of his case does not justify charging the amount of such expense, under the limitation of the statute, on the county.

Consequently, the expenses of employing alienists, as requested by both defendants, are not personal and incidental expenses of counsel. In order to be allowed as charges to the county here, they must properly qualify as expenses for expert witnesses for the purpose of rebutting or answering the prosecution alienists or affirmatively presenting evidence for the defendants. Here, neither defendant has made a showing that the prosecution will swear alienists in its direct case.

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Bluebook (online)
42 Misc. 2d 143, 247 N.Y.S.2d 198, 1964 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-leach-nycountyct-1964.