People v. Schultz

23 Misc. 2d 620, 198 N.Y.S.2d 814, 1960 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3518
CourtNew York County Courts
DecidedFebruary 26, 1960
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 23 Misc. 2d 620 (People v. Schultz) 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. Schultz, 23 Misc. 2d 620, 198 N.Y.S.2d 814, 1960 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3518 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1960).

Opinion

Nathan R. Sobel, J.

The defendant was convicted by a jury of the crime of burglary second degree and sentenced on November 21, 1952 to a term of 15 years to life as a fourth and subsequent felony offender. Prior to such sentence he was charged with 12 prior convictions, all outside 'this State, pursuant to section 1943 of the Penal Law. A jury trial was had on the issue of identity. During such trial the court removed from consideration of the jury a conviction of November 10, 1917 in the State of Massachusetts. The jury found for the People on the remaining allegations in the information. The defendant was thereupon sentenced as a twelfth-felony offender by another Judge of this court.

The present petition is (1) for resentence on the ground that he is not a fourth felony offender under section 1942 of the [621]*621Penal Law and (2) that section 1942 of the Penal Law is unconstitutional when an adjudication under that section is based on out-of-State (hereinafter referred to as “ foreign ”) convictions.

I shall discuss first his motion for resentence.

This is one of many applications made by this defendant for correction of sentence. All previous applications have been denied. This defendant is entitled to have a ruling from this court with respect to each of the 11 foreign convictions upon which his sentence rests. Before ruling on the 11 allegations in the information separately, I discuss the general rules applicable to foreign convictions.

In reaching a determination whether an out-of-State conviction is for a crime which would be a felony if committed in this State our appellate courts have prescribed certain rules.

1. The Olah Rule.

People v. Olah (300 N. Y. 96) requires its to examine the foreign statute. If the foreign statute does not contain all of the elements of our felony statute, the conviction must be disregarded. Obviously, says Olah, the indictment by expanding the allegations cannot change the foreign statute’s definition of the crime. All such expanded allegations are inoperative.

If the foreign statute contains all of the elements of our felony statute, we need only examine the foreign judgment to determine whether the defendant was found guilty of the crime defined in the foreign statute. Obviously if he was found guilty of another included or lesser crime (as permitted in several of our States) the inquiry must be repeated by examining the statute defining the other or lesser crime.

Under the Olah rule the main problem with which we have to contend is to determine under which foreign statute the defendant has been convicted. If the indictment or the judgment cites the statute there is no problem. If it does not, only the operative allegations of the indictment may be examined to find the foreign statute. Like any other fact, the burden is upon the People to establish the foreign statute which is the basis of the conviction and any doubt in this regard must be resolved in the defendant’s favor.

2. The Disjunctive Statute Rule.

This rule is merely an expansion of the Olah rule.

A single foreign statute may define disjunctively two or more separate crimes. If they are all felonies under the Olah rule, we have no problem. But if one crime is a felony and another is not, we follow the disjunctive statute rule laid down in People v. Love (305 N. Y. 722); People ex rel. Gold v. Jackson (5 N Y [622]*6222d 243); People v. Kronick (308 N. Y. 866); People ex rel. Marsh v. Martin (308 N. Y. 823); People v. Markus (7 A D 2d 997); People v. Benjamin (7 A D 2d 410) and People ex rel. Knapp v. Jackson (6 A D 2d 151).

The disjunctive statute rule as it expands the Olah rule is clearly stated by Judge Burke in People ex rel. Gold v. Jackson (supra, p. 245): “ The rationale of Olah does not license the courts below, in sentencing recidivists, to disregard the indictment or information upon which a conviction in a sister State is based in determining whether the crime charged therein constitutes a felony in New York. The intent and spirit of the Olah rule require that the courts of New York abstain from considering the surplusage contained in the indictment or information which would spell out a felony under our penal statutes. Only those facts alleged in the indictment or information which are not operative or material under the applicable criminal statute of the foreign jurisdiction are to be discounted in ascertaining whether the crime charged is to be deemed a felony in New York.”

In order to ascertain under which of the disjunctive foreign statute provisions the defendant was convicted, we examine the operative allegations of the indictment. If the operative allegations establish conclusively that the defendant was convicted of that part of the foreign statute which would be a felony under our law, the conviction may be counted. If not it must be disregarded.

Thus for instance in Love (supra) the foreign statute defined larceny disjunctively as (1) stealing from the person and (2) stealing $25 or more in any manner. The indictment alleged the stealing of the sum of $20.75 from the person. This conclusively established that the defendant was convicted under (1) stealing from the person. He could not have been convicted of stealing under (2) since the indictment would have to allege theft of $25 or more. And in Gold (supra) the foreign statute defined burglary disjunctively as (1) breaking and entering with intent to commit a crime and (2) “ breaking out ” of a building under circumstances not a felony in this State. The operative allegations of the indictment alleged breaking and entering with intent to commit a crime. This excluded any possibility that defendant was convicted of “ breaking out ” of a building. Also some States define burglary as breaking and entering, etc., in the daytime or entering, etc. without breaking in the nighttime. If the operative facts allege a breaking and entry, etc., in the daytime, such allegations exclude any possibility that the defendant entered without breaking in the nighttime. People [623]*623v. Knapp (supra) is an illustration of both kinds of burglary-statutes.

However under the disjunctive statute rule if the operative allegations of the indictment do not exclude all possibility that defendant was convicted of only that part of the disjunctive foreign statute which charges a felony under our statutes, he must be given the benefit of the doubt.

Although not pertinent to this decision we also follow the disjunctive statute rule where the foreign statute does not give a substantive definition of a crime, such as in the Federal Articles of War or the present Uniform Code of Military Justice (People v. Benjamin, 7 A D 2d 410, supra, and cases cited, or, under certain circumstances, in those States which have common-law crimes as distinguished from statutory crimes.)

3. The Joined or Consolidated Indictment Buie.

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Related

People v. Preuss
461 N.W.2d 703 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1990)
People ex rel. Lana v. Donovan
32 Misc. 2d 173 (New York Supreme Court, 1962)
People v. Toler
29 Misc. 2d 384 (New York County Courts, 1960)

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Bluebook (online)
23 Misc. 2d 620, 198 N.Y.S.2d 814, 1960 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-schultz-nycountyct-1960.