People v. Daghita

• Citation: 299 N.Y. 194,86 N.E.2d 172
• Parties: PEOPLE v. DAGHITA.
• Decision Date: 20 April 1949
• Court: New York Court of Appeals

299 N.Y. 194
86 N.E.2d 172

PEOPLE
v.
DAGHITA.

Court of Appeals of New York.

April 20, 1949.

Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department.

Thomas Daghita was convicted of grand larceny in the first degree and of criminally concealing and withholding stolen property. From a judgment, of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, 274 App.Div. 868, 82 N.Y.S.2d 736, entered October 7, 1948, which unanimously affirmed a judgment of the Tompkins County Court (Stagg, J.), defendant appeals by permission of an associate judge of the Court of Appeals.

Judgments of conviction reversed, and new trial ordered.

[86 N.E.2d 172]

Victor Levine, of Syracuse, for appellant.

Frederick B. Bryant, Dist. Atty., of Ithaca, for respondent.

CONWAY, Judge.

The defendant has appealed by permission of a Judge of this court from the unanimous affirmance by the Appellate Division of a judgment of the County Court of Tompkins County convicting him of the crimes of grand larceny in the first degree and of criminally concealing and withholding stolen property.

The first count of the indictment charged that the defendant stole from Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc., (hereinafter referred to as Montgomery) in Ithaca, New York, property having a value of approximately $1,000. The second count charged him with the crime of criminally concealing and withholding stolen property in violation of section 1308 of the Penal Law of the State of New York, Consol.Laws, c. 40, in that he willfully and unlawfully concealed and withheld from Montgomery certain merchandise of the value of approximately $1,000 which he knew had been stolen from the company.

Defendant was a police officer in the city of Ithaca. One Borries was a janitor at the store of Montgomery located in the same city. He testified that one morning in the winter of 1946-1947 the defendant came to his home about one o'clock to inform him that the door at the store was open. The defendant drove him to the store, he locked the door and the defendant drove him home again. A few days later,

[86 N.E.2d 173]

while Borries was in the basement, the defendant knocked on the front window of the store. He said that he told the defendant he could not come in and that no one was permitted in but defendant replied that he was an officer of the law and did come in and walk about the basement. In the summer of 1947, Borries said he met defendant while on his way to work. His hours of work began shortly after two o'clock in the morning. The...