People v. Randall

174 N.E.2d 507, 9 N.Y.2d 413, 214 N.Y.S.2d 417, 1961 N.Y. LEXIS 1368
CourtNew York Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 30, 1961
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 174 N.E.2d 507 (People v. Randall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Randall, 174 N.E.2d 507, 9 N.Y.2d 413, 214 N.Y.S.2d 417, 1961 N.Y. LEXIS 1368 (N.Y. 1961).

Opinion

Foster, J.

This case comes to us on cross appeals from an order of the Appellate Division, Third Department, which unanimously modified a judgment of the County Court, Cortland County, convicting defendant of the crime of attempted sodomy in the second degree upon a jury verdict. The order of the Appellate Division modified the judgment on the law and the facts, reduced the conviction to an attempt to commit sodomy as a misdemeanor, and sentenced the defendant to six months in the penitentiary. The People contest the reduction of the conviction by the Appellate Division and seek reinstatement of the original judgment of conviction of the County Court. Defendant seeks dismissal of the indictment, or in the alternative that he be granted a new trial.

The defendant, at the time of his arrest and trial herein, was 59 years of age. He had divorced his wife some years earlier, and lived with his 26-year-old son on a small farm in the Town of Preble, Cortland County, New York. Prior to the conviction herein appealed from, the defendant had no criminal record of any kind.

On March 8, 1959 James Proctor, then 16 years of age, was picked up by the State Police and taken to their station in Homer, New York, for questioning in connection with the whereabouts of a boy who was wanted by the probation authorities. In the course of this questioning, Proctor signed two written statements for the police, the substance of both being that, on an occasion about a month earlier, he voluntarily had attempted to perform an act of anal intercourse with the defendant, at the request of the defendant at the defendant’s home in Preble. Proctor swore to the truth of each of those statements before different Magistrates and was confined to the county jail on an information charging him with the crime of sodomy, third degree.

The testimony was conflicting as to what occurred thereafter. According to the People’s witness, Trooper John Cody, Bandall was taken to the Homer substation for questioning by the State Police on March 12, 1959. He orally confessed to the act but refused to make a written statement. At 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. on that day, the defendant formally was arrested upon the information of Trooper Cody, charging him with sodomy in the second degree. He then was arraigned before B. Curtis Harris. Justice of the Peace, who advised him of all of his rights, includ[417]*417ing his right to counsel, and was committed to the Cortland County Jail for examination. On March 13, 1959 Trooper Cody received word that the defendant desired to make a written statement. Trooper Cody and Corporal Bichard Haley of the State Police went to the Sheriff’s office and prepared the typewritten statement based upon defendant’s oral admissions. The defendant read the statement, made a correction, and signed it before a notary public who verified the signature.

On the other hand, defendant Bandall testified that he was picked up by the State Police on March 12, without being advised of the reason; that during the questioning, a trooper struck defendant with his elbow, causing blood to flow from his ear; that a trooper used defendant’s arm as a weapon and caused defendant to strike himself in the head; and that the troopers otherwise abused and intimidated him. He further testified that the confession he signed on March 13 was never read to him; that he could not read it because his glasses had been destroyed accidentally prior to his arrest; and that he did not know the contents of the document. The troopers denied striking the defendant, and averred that the confession was made freely and readily by defendant and that it was read by defendant prior to signing.

Justice of the Peace Habéis was called as a defense witness. He recalled that on March 14,1959, between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m., defendant again was brought before him. A document was produced and, at the request of the troopers, Justice Harris asked the defendant if he desired to swear to the truth thereof. Defendant then swore to the truth of the contents of the document without first having been advised of his privilege against self incrimination. Justice Harbis thereupon advised defendant of his right to counsel, and to a preliminary examination, but the defendant waived examination and was held for Grand Jury action. The Justice could not recall whether he verified the document. He testified that he had noticed that the document was notarized, but he himself did not see the body of the document nor the contents thereof. Apparently Trooper Cody then put the document in his pocket and carried it away. Defendant’s testimony corroborated that of Justice Harbis. Trooper Cody, however, did not recall having produced any document before Justice Harris, despite contrary allegations in an affidavit sub[418]*418mitted by Cody in opposition to defendant’s motion to inspect the Grand Jury minutes.

Defendant was indicted by the Cortland County Grand Jury for the crime of sodomy in the second degree. The indictment charged as follows: “ The said defendant, on or about the 4th day of February, 1959, * * * then being over the age of twenty-one years, to wit: fifty-nine (59) years of age, engaged in an act of carnal knowledge by the anus with one James Deyo Proctor, a person under the age of eighteen (18) years, to wit: sixteen (16) years of age and aided and abetted said James Deyo Proctor in an act of carnal knowledge by the anus with the defendant; against the form of the statute in such case made and provided.” Motions to inspect the Grand Jury minutes and to dismiss the indictment upon grounds that defendant’s constitutional rights were violated and that the indictment was based upon illegal and insufficient evidence were denied. As we have indicated, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of an attempt to commit sodomy in the second degree, and the Appellate Division modified. From the written statements and testimony of Proctor and the oral and written confessions of defendant Randall, and from the evidence adduced, the jury could find that the defendant, 59 years of age, submitted to an act of anal intercourse perpetrated by a 16-year-old boy.

The primary question before us, and the one dealt with in the opinion below, is whether or not defendant was guilty of any crime under the sodomy statute (Penal Law, § 690), as it now exists, and as it existed at the time the act charged allegedly was committed.

Section 690 of the Penal Law, prior to 1950, provided, in part, that one who “ carnally knows any male or female person by the anus or by or with the mouth; or voluntarily submits to such carnal Imowledge * * * is guilty of sodomy ”. (Emphasis supplied.) Indeed, from 1886 (L. 1886, ch. 31, § 6) to 1950, the Legislature had indicated that only the perpetrator of the sodomous act had carnal Imowledge within the meaning of the sodomy statute. The pathic or recipient of the act was described separately as one who “voluntarily submits to such carnal knowledge ”. The meaning of the term “ one who carnally lmows another ”, therefore, has been restricted by constant and long-settled legislative usage, and includes only the active participant or perpetrator of the sodomy.

[419]*419The statute was amended in 1950 (L. 1950, eh. 525, § 15) and the crime of sodomy was subdivided into degrees. No reference was made in the new statute to a person who ‘ ‘ voluntarily submits to such carnal knowledge.” The statute sets forth five paragraphs defining sodomy in the first degree. In general “A person who carnally

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Bluebook (online)
174 N.E.2d 507, 9 N.Y.2d 413, 214 N.Y.S.2d 417, 1961 N.Y. LEXIS 1368, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-randall-ny-1961.