People v. Davis
| Decision Date | 06 June 1960 |
| Citation | 201 N.Y.S.2d 478,22 Misc.2d 1094 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of New York v. Le Roy DAVIS, Defendant. |
| Court | New York County Court |
Abraham Isseks, Dist. Atty., of Orange County, Middletown (Robert M. Devitt, Asst. Dist. Atty., Newburgh, of counsel), for the people.
Edward D. Kaplan, Newburgh, for defendant.
The defendant has been charged with a violation of Section 512, subdivision 1(a), of the Tax Law. Upon his arraignment before the Honorable John A. Di Miceli, Justice of the Peace of the Town of Cornwall, he demanded a jury trial, which demand was granted by the Justice.
The People now move for an order of this court directing that such trial proceed before said Justice without a jury, and have obtained a stay of the trial pending our determination.
The People contend that, under the language of Section 512, subdivision 1(a), of the Tax Law, the defendant is not entitled to a trial by jury. No case in point has been cited by the People or by the defendant.
Section 512 of the Tax Law provides certain penalties for violations of the Tax Law involved in the operation of motor vehicles on the public highways. The statute provides further that any person who violates any provision of this section upon a first conviction shall be punishable by a fine, and upon a second or subsequent conviction by a fine or by imprisonment.
The statute further provides that the penalty or punishment thus imposed shall not be deemed for any purpose a penal or criminal penalty or punishment.
The statute then provides as follows:
'For the purposes of conferring jurisdiction upon courts and judicial officers generally such violations shall be deemed misdemeanors and for such purpose only all provisions of the law relating to misdemeanors shall apply to such violations, provided however, that courts of special sessions outside of the city of New York * * * in the first instance, shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine charges of such violations.'
The foregoing section of the Tax Law, by its terms, does not create a crime, but rather places these violations of the Tax Law in the same category as offenses under the Vehicle and Traffic Law. A similar provision of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, Section 2, subdivision 29, uses language strikingly similar to the language of Section 512 in conferring jurisdiction on courts of special sessions, and states,
'* * * and for such purpose such acts and violations shall be deemed misdemeanors and all provisions of law relating to misdemeanors * * * shall apply to traffic infractions, except however, that no jury trial shall be allowed for traffic infractions.' (Italics supplied.)
The section of the Tax Law with which we are now dealing, on the contrary, is silent as to the mode of trial.
The provision of Section 512 that all provisions of law relating to misdemeanors shall apply to such violations 'for the purposes of conferring jurisdiction * * * and for such purpose only', does not indicate clearly the legislative intent with respect to the mode of trial.
It has frequently been held that Article 1, § 2 of the Constitution of the State of New York, preserving the right to trial by jury, does not extend to petty offenses tried before a court of special sessions. See People v. Bellinger, 269 N.Y. 265, at page 271, 199 N.E....
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People v. Ferri
...highways . . . places these violations . . . in the same category as offenses under the Vehicle and Traffic Law." (People v. Davis 22 Misc.2d 1094, 201 N.Y.S.2d 478.) The Highway Use Tax came into being by enactment of the Laws of 1951, ch. 74, § 1, which provides: "The legislature hereby f......