People v. Spickler

New York Court of Appeals

People v. Spickler

175 N.E. 111, 255 N.Y. 408, 1931 N.Y. LEXIS 693

CourtNew York Court of Appeals

DecidedFebruary 10, 1931

StatusPublished

Cited by3 cases

This text of 175 N.E. 111 (People v. Spickler) 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. Spickler, 175 N.E. 111, 255 N.Y. 408, 1931 N.Y. LEXIS 693 (N.Y. 1931).

Pincite

Opinion

Per Curiam.

We think the judgment of conviction should be reversed on the ground that justice will be promoted by granting a new trial.

The identification of the defendant by witnesses who *409 had seen the struggle from a distance in the hallway of an apartment house is a,t least doubtful enough to make it improper to execute the death penalty without every reasonable safeguard for the avoidance of mistake.

We think the case is conspicuously one where a view of the premises should be ordered to enable the jury to determine whether an identification in such conditions is one that ought to be accepted.

The judgment of conviction should be reversed and a new trial granted.

Cardozo, Ch. J., Lehman, Kellogg and O’Brien, JJ., concur; Pound, Crane and Hubbs, JJ., dissent.

Judgment reversed, etc.

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