People v. Santos

182 Misc. 2d 764, 700 N.Y.S.2d 381, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 512
CourtCriminal Court of the City of New York
DecidedNovember 10, 1999
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 182 Misc. 2d 764 (People v. Santos) 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. Santos, 182 Misc. 2d 764, 700 N.Y.S.2d 381, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 512 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Laura A. Ward, J.

On August 7, 1999, the defendant’s employment at a dental office was terminated. On August 13, 1999, the defendant returned to the office. The defendant sat in a chair and refused to leave the premises after repeatedly being told to leave by the office manager, Marcia Luria. The defendant was arrested and taken to the 17th Precinct. At the precinct, Police Officer Michael Drew attempted to take the defendant to the fingerprint station. The defendant repeatedly pulled away from Officer Drew and finally sat in a chair and refused to get up. As a result of the defendant’s actions, Officer Drew was unable to fingerprint her.

The defendant was charged with criminal trespass in the third degree (Penal Law § 140.10 [a]) and obstruction of governmental administration in the second degree (Penal Law § 195.05). The defendant has moved, among other things, to dismiss both charges on the ground that the accusatory instrument is facially insufficient and to dismiss the charge of obstruction of governmental administration in the second degree on the ground that the statute defining the crime is [766]*766unconstitutionally vague. For the reasons set forth below, the defendant’s motion to dismiss count two, trespass in the third degree, is granted and the defendant’s motion to dismiss count one, obstruction of governmental administration, is denied.

FACIAL SUFFICIENCY

CPL 100.40 sets forth the standards governing the facial sufficiency of misdemeanor complaints and misdemeanor informa-tions. The factual part of a misdemeanor complaint, along with any supporting depositions which accompany it, must establish reasonable cause to believe that the defendant committed the offenses charged in the accusatory part. The standard for a misdemeanor information is the same as for a complaint except that the information must contain nonhearsay allegations, which if true, establish every element of the offenses charged and the defendant’s commission of those offenses.

CRIMINAL TRESPASS IN THE THIRD DEGREE

A person is guilty of violating Penal Law § 140.10 (a)

“when he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building or upon real property

“(a) which is fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders.”

According to Penal Law § 140.00 (5),“[a] person ‘enters or remains unlawfully’ in or upon premises when he is not licensed or privileged to do so.” This section also states that “[a] person who, regardless of his intent, enters or remains in or upon premises which are at the time open to the public does so with license and privilege unless he defies a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated to him by the owner of such premises or other authorized person.”

The defendant argues that the accusatory instrument in this case fails to meet the requirements for a facial sufficiency set forth in CPL 100.40 since it fails to set forth that the office was enclosed in a manner to exclude intruders.

In People v MacMahon (NYLJ, July 10, 1995, at 30, col 3 [Grim Ct, NY County]), the court was presented with the identical issue presented here, whether an accusatory instrument charging a violation of Penal Law § 140.10 (a) is sufficient if it fails to state that a building is “fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders.” The court, in finding that such an accusatory instrument would be sufficient, stated that “the Court rejects the defendants’ argument [767]*767that the complaint lacks facts establishing that the building was fenced or otherwise enclosed to exclude intruders. It is settled that the phrase ‘fenced or enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders’ modifies the phrase ‘real property” and not the word ‘building’. There is no requirement that a building be fenced or enclosed.” In support of this conclusion the court cites People v Brown (25 NY2d 374 [1969]), Matter of Kevin G. (71 Misc 2d 312 [Fam Ct, NY County 1972]), as well as the 1988 Practice Commentary to article 140 of the Penal Law (Donnino, Practice Commentary, McKinney’s Cons Laws of NY, Book 39, Penal Law art 140, at 12 [1988 ed]). The court’s reliance on these cases, as well as the Practice Commentary, is misplaced.

In People v Brown (supra, at 376) the Court of Appeals, reversing a conviction for trespass in the second degree in violation of Penal Law § 140.10, stated that “[s]ince the defendant concededly entered a ‘building’, the crucial element of the crime required to be established by the people was that he either entered or remained unlawfully.” The Court did not address the question of whether the People needed to prove that the building was “fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders” because the Court in People v Brown (supra) was dealing with a different statute than the statute presented here and in People v MacMahon (supra).

At the time of the commission of the crime in People v Brown (supra), Penal Law § 140.10 contained no subdivisions. The statute stated that “A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree when he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building or upon real property which is fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders.”

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Related

Davis v. City of New York
373 F. Supp. 2d 322 (S.D. New York, 2005)
In re Lawrence K.
8 A.D.3d 1078 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
182 Misc. 2d 764, 700 N.Y.S.2d 381, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-santos-nycrimct-1999.