Albert v. Zahner's Sales Co.

• Decision Date: 19 January 1976
• Citation: Albert v. Zahner's Sales Co., 378 N.Y.S.2d 414, 51 A.D.2d 541 (N.Y. App. Div. 1976)
• Parties: Arthur ALBERT et al., Appellants, v. ZAHNER'S SALES COMPANY et al., Respondents, Nicholas Ferraro, DistrictAttorney, Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 414

378 N.Y.S.2d 414

51 A.D.2d 541

Arthur ALBERT et al., Appellants, v. ZAHNER'S SALES COMPANY et al., Respondents, Nicholas Ferraro, DistrictAttorney, Respondent.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department.

Jan. 19, 1976.

Ira J. Raab, Lynbrook, for appellants.

Nicholas Ferraro, Dist. Atty., Kew Gardens (Barry A. Schwartz, Kew Gardens, of counsel), respondent pro se.

Before GULOTTA, P.J., and RABIN, HOPKINS, LATHAM and MARGETT, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

In an action Inter alia to recover damages for false arrest, plaintiffs appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County, dated March 31, 1975, which, Inter alia, denied their motion for discovery of certain Grand Jury minutes.

Order affirmed, with $50 costs and disbursements.

Disclosure of Grand Jury minutes has been permitted in civil cases in which there is a public interest in such disclosure (People v. Di Napoli, 27 N.Y.2d 229, 316 N.Y.S.2d 622, 265 N.E.2d 449; Matter of Quinn (Town of Mt. Pleasant), 267 App.Div. 913, 47 N.Y.S.2d 66, affd., 293 N.Y. 787, 58 N.E.2d 730). In our view, disclosure is not warranted to aid private civil litigants because of the chilling effect such disclosure might have on the ability of future grand juries to obtain witnesses (see People v. Di Napoli, supra).

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