People v. Van Dusen

56 Misc. 2d 107, 287 N.Y.S.2d 741, 1967 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1116
CourtNew York County Courts
DecidedNovember 6, 1967
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 56 Misc. 2d 107 (People v. Van Dusen) 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. Van Dusen, 56 Misc. 2d 107, 287 N.Y.S.2d 741, 1967 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1116 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1967).

Opinion

Carrollton A. Roberts, J.

In February, 1967 defendant was arraigned before a Justice of the Peace of the Town of Manchester, Ontario County, New York, on a charge of burglary in the third degree, and, with his attorney present, waived examination pursuant to section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and was ordered held for the Grand Jury of Ontario County to answer the charge.

Thereafter, the April 1967 Grand Jury returned an indictment against the defendant containing four counts of burglary in the third degree, one count of petit larceny, and one count of grand larceny in the first degree.

Defendant has moved to dismiss and set aside this indictment upon the grounds that his constitutional rights, both under the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, had been violated. He claims that he was refused his constitutional right to be present before the Grand Jury at all times that the Grand Jury heard evidence [108]*108against him; that he was refused his constitutional right to have his counsel with him present before the Grand Jury at all times that the Grand Jury heard evidence against him; that he was refused his constitutional right to be allowed to cross-examine any witnesses presenting evidence against him before the Grand Jury either in person or by attorney; and that he was not notified of the presentation of witnesses against him to the Grand Jury, and was not allowed to make timely demand.

As to the last ground of claimed error it is sufficient to say that the defendant had actual knowledge in February, 1967, that his case would be presented to the Grand Jury, and therefore, had approximately two months to file his demand pursuant to section 250 of the Code of Criminal Procedure if he wished to appear before the Grand Jury. Where, as here, a person has already been arrested before the case is presented to the Grand Jury, the defendant knows that a formal charge has been made against him and will be presented to the Grand Jury, and he has the right if he so chooses to inform the Grand Jury of his desire to testify in his own behalf. (People v. Seward, 51 Misc 2d 415.) Only in exceptional circumstances (People v. Seward, supra; People v. Lazar, 51 Misc 2d 233) is there any authority to sustain defendant’s position. Such special circumstances are not present here. No claim is made in this motion that the statutes governing the formation and proceedings of the Grand Jury were not complied with. Indeed, had the defendant and/or his attorney been present before the Grand Jury, as he now claims they should have been, this court would have to set aside the indictment on defendant’s motion on the grounds that unauthorized persons were present during the sessions of the Grand Jury. (Code Crim. Pro., § 313; People v. Minet, 296 N. Y. 315.)

Section 6 of article I of the New York State Constitution states in part: “ No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime [with certain exceptions not here applicable], unless on indictment of a grand jury, and in any trial in any court whatever the party accused shall be allowed to appear and defend in person and with counsel as in civil actions and shall bo informed of the nature and cause of the accusation and be confronted with the witnesses against him. ’ ’

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides in part: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury”.

[109]*109The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads in part: “ In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right * * * to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. ’ ’

New York State constitutional provisions requiring indictment by Grand Jury and trial by petit jury of persons charged with “infamous crimes ” relate to those crimes where punishment might be in a State’s prison or for longer terms than one year in any prison (People v. Bellinger, 269 N. Y. 265).

A Grand Jury proceeding is not a trial. The purpose of a Grand Jury inquiry is to ascertain facts which will enable it to determine whether formal charges should be made against someone and not to try offenders.

The Grand Jury is a grand inquest, a body with powers of investigation and inquisition (Matter of Inter-City Assoc., 207 Misc. 1012). Our whole legal concept of the Grand Jury is that it is not a body engaged in determining .the issue of defendant’s guilt or innocence, but rather, being an inquisitorial body of citizens charged with the duty under law of conducting its own investigation into all .crimes within its jurisdiction, without disclosure of its activities, and subject only to the requirement of law relating to the quality and sufficiency of evidence adequate to warrant indictment. (People ex rel. Mleczko v. McCloskey, 33 Misc 2d 175.)

Mr. Justice Black stated in Matter of Oliver (333 U. S. 257, 264-265): ‘ ‘ Grand Juries investigate, and the usual end of their investigation is either a report, a “ no bill”, or an indictment. They do not try and convict. They render no judgment. When their work is finished by the return of an indictment, it cannot be used as evidence against the person indicted. Nor may he be fined or sentenced to jail until he has been tried and convicted after having been afforded the procedural safeguards required by due process of law.”

As under New York State law, title 18, rule 6 (d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure restrict the persons who may be present during a Grand Jury investigation, as follows: “ Attorneys for the government, the witness under examination, interpreters when needed and, for the purpose of taking the evidence, a stenographer or operator of a recording device may be present while the grand jury is in session, but no person other than the jurors may be present while the grand jury is deliberating or voting. ’ ’

[110]*110Defendant seeks to extend the rule enunciated by the Supreme Court of the United States in Escobedo v. Illinois (378 U. S. 478), and Massiah v. United States (377 U. S. 201), and Gideons. Wainwright (372 U. S. 335), Miranda v. Arizona (384 U. S. 436) and other recent decisions of that court, to cover the situation here present. This court does not read those cases in such light. All of the holdings of the United States Supreme Court on the constitutional right to counsel before trial are based on protection against self incrimination by in-custody interrogation, a situation not here present.

Defendant also seeks to extend the recent ruling of the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Wade (388 U. S. 218) to the present situation. A thorough reading of that case discloses that it has no application to the situation now before the court. As was said in United States v. Wade (supra, p.

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Bluebook (online)
56 Misc. 2d 107, 287 N.Y.S.2d 741, 1967 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-van-dusen-nycountyct-1967.