Blount, Matter of
| Citation | 456 N.Y.S.2d 970,116 Misc.2d 975 |
| Parties | Matter of Jeffrey BLOUNT. Application of The People of the State of New York, Petitioner, for an order pursuant to CPL Section 160.50(1)(d)(ii), vacating the Sealing Order on the Official Court Records of New York County Prosecution of Jeffrey Blount. |
| Decision Date | 30 November 1982 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (New York) |
Robert M. Morgenthau, Dist. Atty., N.Y. County (Mary Chesty Kornman, New York City, of counsel), for the People.
Myra Wallach, New York City, for defendant.
This is an ex parte application by the People, pursuant to CPL 160.50(1)(d)(ii), to unseal court records for the purpose of perfecting an appeal from a criminal court order dismissing the case for failure to prosecute. The case was dismissed on December 1, 1981, and was sealed on that date. This application to unseal comes more than 11 months after the dismissal and sealing.
While such applications to unseal are commonly made ex parte pursuant to section 160.50(1)(d)(ii), this Court determines that the statutory subsection relied upon does not confer authority to grant the relief sought. An ex parte application to unseal pursuant to subdivision (1)(d)(ii) is available, by the express terms of that subsection, only to a law enforcement agency. For example, it would be available to the police or a prosecutor in furtherance of an investigation. In such situations an ex parte application is appropriate and often necessary. A prosecutor, however, belatedly seeking to perfect an appeal does not, in this court's view, constitute a "law enforcement agency" within the purview of the statute.
The only other potential mechanism for the People is a motion, on notice, to unseal the record pursuant to CPL 160.50(1)(c). Strictly speaking, subsection (1)(c) is not a proper mechanism in this case either, because subsection (1)(c) relates to the method of securing an order to stay sealing, rather than to unseal. Since this record has already been sealed, a motion to stay sealing pursuant to subdivision (1)(c) is not entirely apposite.
It is this court's view, however, that the record in this case was improperly sealed in the first place. Article 160.50 provides for a sealing only "upon the termination of a criminal action or proceeding against a person in favor of such person, as defined in subdivision two of this section ..." (CPL 160.50[1], emphasis added.) A criminal action is deemed terminated "in favor" of the accused when an order to dismiss has been entered "and the people have not appealed from such order ..." (CPL 160.50[2][b], emphasis added.) In turn, an appeal is...
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Police Com'r of City of New York, Application of
...On the other hand, a motion to unseal when no criminal investigation is in progress ought to be made on notice. See People v. Blount, 116 Misc.2d 975, 456 N.Y.S.2d 970. The provision for an ex parte motion by law enforcement agencies lends weight to defendant's argument that "law enforcemen......
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People v. Canales
...131 Misc.2d 695, 501 N.Y.S.2d 568 (Sup.Ct.N.Y.County 1986) (same holding as Charles Q. case cited above); Matter of Blount, 116 Misc.2d 975, 456 N.Y.S.2d 970 (Sup.Ct.N.Y.County 1982) (prosecutor not entitled to use this exception to make ex parte motion to unseal records for purpose of perf......
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