People v. Santana
| Decision Date | 03 April 1974 |
| Citation | 77 Misc.2d 414,354 N.Y.S.2d 387 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of New York, v. Rene SANTANA, Defendant. |
| Court | New York City Court |
Nicholas Ferraro, Dist. Atty., Queens County (Robert Hulteen, Asst. Dist. Atty., of counsel), for the People.
William Gallagher, The Legal Aid Society, New York City (Charles D. Lavine, New York City, of counsel), for defendant.
The defendant is charged with felony possession of a weapon (Sec. 265.05, subd. 2 Penal Law). After hearing, the defendant moved to reduce the charge to possession as a misdemeanor (Sec. 265.05, subd. 3 P.L.). The hearing adduced the following facts and I so find:
The officer in a patrol car observed the defendant sitting in the driver's seat of a taxi (non-medallion) with a female beside him. The taxi was parked. The officer's curiosity was aroused because of the lady's presence in the front, rather than the rear, of the car. He brought his car to a stop behind the taxi and approached the driver's side of the taxi on foot. The driver exited the taxi from the driver's side and the two met in the vicinity of the open cab door where the usual questions were asked and answered. The officer, noting a bulge in the defendant's coat pocket, 'frisked' the defendant and found the revolver which is the basis for the arrest that followed.
The officer's testimony was forthright and refreshingly objective. He did not brush the scene with overtones of malevolence; he did not shade the defendant's actions or those of his female companion with sinister purpose.
By this motion, the defendant seeks to extend the 'taxi is a place of business' principle, announced in People v. Santiago, 74 Misc.2d 10, 343 N.Y.S.2d 805 (1971) and followed in People v. Anderson, 74 Misc.2d 415, 344 N.Y.S.2d 15 (1973) to the instant situation where the weapon was on the person of the driver and the driver had existed from the vehicle. On the facts of this case, it should be so extended and I so hold.
Section 265.05, subd. 2 of the Penal Law places in proper perspective the seriousness of the crime of possession of a weapon in one's home or place of business. By reducing it from a felony to a misdemeanor, the section ascribes a quasi respectable intent to the possessor, suggesting that he keeps the weapon to protect himself and his property rather than to employ the same willfully to another's disadvantage.
Considering the much-publicized,...
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State v. Lutters
...whether taxicab is place of business), appeal denied, 92 N.Y.2d 1037, 707 N.E.2d 459, 684 N.Y.S.2d 504 (1998), People v. Santana, 77 Misc. 2d 414, 415, 354 N.Y.S.2d 387 (1974) (extending place of business exception to driver who had exited his taxicab with revolver), People v. Anderson, 74 ......
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People v. Francis
...lower court decisions have held that a taxicab is a taxi driver's place of business within the purview of the statute (People v. Santana, 77 Misc.2d 414, 354 N.Y.S.2d 387; People v. Santiago, 74 Misc.2d 10, 343 N.Y.S.2d 805; People v. Anderson, 74 Misc.2d 415, 344 N.Y.S.2d 15). However, thi......
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State v. Fisher
...taxicab fits a "place of business" exception in a statute prohibiting the possession of a firearm. See People v. Santana, 77 Misc.2d 414, 354 N.Y.S.2d 387, 389 (N.Y.City Crim.Ct. 1974); People v. Anderson, 74 Misc.2d 415, 344 N.Y.S.2d 15, 19 (N.Y.City Crim.Ct.1973); People v. Santiago, 74 M......
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People v. McWilliams
...should be construed to include a taxicab. At least three lower court decisions have so interpreted the provision. (People v. Santana, 77 Misc.2d 414, 354 N.Y.S.2d 387; People v. Anderson, 74 Misc.2d 415; People v. Santiago, 74 Misc.2d 10, 343 N.Y.S.2d 805). Other courts have more strictly l......