People v. Newton

57 Misc. 3d 545, 60 N.Y.S.3d 794
CourtCriminal Court of the City of New York
DecidedAugust 31, 2017
StatusPublished

This text of 57 Misc. 3d 545 (People v. Newton) 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. Newton, 57 Misc. 3d 545, 60 N.Y.S.3d 794 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

David Frey, J.

The defendant is charged with one count each of unlawfully possessing or selling noxious material (Penal Law § 270.05 [2]) [546]*546and harassment in the second degree (Penal Law § 240.26 [1]). The People served and filed a supporting deposition on June 8, 2017. The defendant, in an omnibus motion dated June 22, 2017, seeks: (1) to dismiss the information as facially insufficient pursuant to CPL 710.20 (1) and 170.30, (2) a Huntley/ Dunaway hearing, (3) a Wade hearing, (4) an order to compel a bill of particulars and discovery, (5) Sandoval and Molineux hearings, (6) preservation of evidence, and (7) reservation of rights. The People filed their motion response, a voluntary disclosure form (VDF), and a cross motion for reciprocal discovery on July 28, 2017.

The defendant’s omnibus motion is decided as follows:

Facial Sufficiency

Criminal Procedure Law § 100.40 (1) states that an information is sufficient on its face when it substantially conforms with CPL 100.15; the allegations provide reasonable cause to believe that the defendant committed the offense charged; and the nonhearsay allegations in conjunction with any supporting deposition establish, if true, every element of the offenses charged and the defendant’s commission thereof. “So long as the factual allegations of an information give an accused notice sufficient to prepare a defense and are adequately detailed to prevent a defendant from being tried twice for the same offense, they should be given a fair and not overly restrictive or technical reading” (People v Casey, 95 NY2d 354, 360 [2000]).

Penal Law § 270.05 (2) provides that

“[a] person is guilty of unlawfully possessing noxious material when he possesses such material under circumstances evincing an intent to use it or to cause it to be used to inflict physical injury upon or to cause annoyance to a person, or to damage property of another, or to disturb the public peace.”

“Noxious material” is defined as “any container which contains any drug or other substance capable of generating offensive, noxious or suffocating fumes, gases or vapors, or capable of immobilizing a person” (Penal Law § 270.05 [1]).

In the misdemeanor complaint, the police officer alleged that

“Ms. Pichardo informed me she . . . observed the defendant throw a plastic bag toward her that landed in the entrance to the apartment near her. I am further informed by Ms. Pichardo that she [547]*547observed a firm object inside the bag and a strong odor emanating from the bag consistent with fecal matter. I am further informed by Ms. Pichardo that defendant’s above described actions caused her to feel alarmed and annoyed.”

Ms. Pichardo’s supporting deposition confirmed this account.

The defendant contests the information’s facial sufficiency, contending that fecal matter is not a noxious material, and the instrument is not converted without an expert opinion or a laboratory report.

1. Is feces a “noxious material” under Penal Law § 270.05?

The defendant contends that the information is facially insufficient, claiming fecal matter is not a noxious material pursuant to “Penal Law 270.05 (2), or relevant case law,” and relies mainly on William C. Donnino’s Practice Commentary in McKinney’s Consolidated Laws of NY, Penal Law § 270.05 for this conclusion (defendant’s affirmation at 6, ¶[ 10). The People contend that a plastic bag is a container, and that feces is a noxious material due to its offensive fumes, vapors, and gases. This court has not found any case law on point.

But, when a statute’s language is clear, it is not necessary for a court to examine extrinsic evidence to divine the legislature’s intent. (E.g. New York State Bankers Assn. v Albright, 38 NY2d 430 [1975]; Sega v State of New York, 60 NY2d 183, 191 [1983] [“legislative intent . . . should not be confused with legislative history”]; People v Graham, 55 NY2d 144, 151 [1982] [“When the Legislature enacted the statutes and when the Governor signed them into law, they stood for what their words manifested and not the inner thoughts of a draftsman or adviser. . . . (A) legal act ‘originates in intention [and] is perfected by expression’ ”].) Here the statutory language defines a noxious material as any container, which contains any drug or other substance capable of generating offensive, noxious or suffocating fumes, gases or vapors, or capable of immobilizing a person (Penal Law § 270.05 [1]).

A “container” is “a receptacle for holding or carrying material” (Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary [1984]). “Offensive” is defined as “disagreeable to the senses” (id.). “Noxious” means “injurious to physical health” (id.). The defendant prefers to focus solely on the “capable of immobilizing a person” language, but doing so vitiates the preceding words in the statute. In fact, the “or capable of immobilizing a person” language was not added to this statute until 1969 (L 1969, ch 452, § 2). [548]*548The preceding portion—“any container which contains any drug or other substance capable of generating offensive, noxious or suffocating fumes, gases or vapors”—was enacted in 1933.

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Related

Brady v. Maryland
373 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1963)
People v. Casey
740 N.E.2d 233 (New York Court of Appeals, 2000)
People v. Kalin
906 N.E.2d 381 (New York Court of Appeals, 2009)
Sega v. State of New York
456 N.E.2d 1174 (New York Court of Appeals, 1983)
Dougherty v. . Milliken
57 N.E. 757 (New York Court of Appeals, 1900)
People v. Leonard
167 N.E.2d 842 (New York Court of Appeals, 1960)
New York State Bankers Ass'n v. Albright
343 N.E.2d 735 (New York Court of Appeals, 1975)
People v. Graham
432 N.E.2d 790 (New York Court of Appeals, 1982)
People v. Gunatilaka
156 Misc. 2d 958 (Criminal Court of the City of New York, 1993)
People v. Givenni
27 Misc. 3d 1135 (Criminal Court of the City of New York, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
57 Misc. 3d 545, 60 N.Y.S.3d 794, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-newton-nycrimct-2017.