People v. Scantlebury
| Decision Date | 09 March 1989 |
| Citation | 539 N.Y.S.2d 641,143 Misc.2d 9 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of New York, Plaintiff, v. Eaden SCANTLEBURY, Defendant. |
| Court | New York District Court |
Denis Dillon, Dist. Atty. of Nassau County by Randy Scott Zelin, Mineola, for plaintiff.
Jules M. Mencher, Garden City, for defendant.
Defendant has been charged with a violation of Section 14-f of the New York State Transportation Law. Such charge was initiated by the issuance on August 12, 1988 of a Simplified Traffic Information (STI) in the form approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The specific nature of the charge is . Located on the STI, above the words "Transportation Law: is the number '172.502' written in black ink."
Defendant has moved to dismiss the STI on the grounds that it charges a violation which is not prohibited by the Transportation Law, i.e. the marking or placarding of a vehicle as carrying hazardous material when in fact it is not carrying hazardous material. The People respond that Federal Regulations, which are embraced by State Law prohibit improper placarding.
In addition, certain legislative changes in 1987 to the Transportation Law and the Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) prompt a review of the interaction of the Transportation Law, the VTL and State and Federal Regulations with respect thereto.
In its original form Transportation Law Section 14-f provided in sub-paragraph 4, that violations of any rules and regulations thereunder may be charged through the use of a Uniform Traffic Summons and Complaint prescribed by Section 207 of the VTL. Section 380 of the VTL originally applied to transportation of dangerous articles and in 1981 was revised to prohibit the transport of hazardous materials in violation of the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Section 14-f of the Transportation Law. Laws of 1981, Ch. 963. That same chapter also modified Section 14-f of the Transportation Law to delete the provision found in the former Section 14-f which permitted violations to be charged through use of a uniform traffic summons.
Presumably the legislature intended that the authority to prosecute violations of Section 14-f was sufficiently reposed in revised Section 380 of the VTL since VTL 207 had not as yet been modified to cross reference the Transportation Law.
Apparently the problems had been noted because in approving Ch. 963 of 1981 the Governor stated that the bill "harmonizes" the relevant provisions of the Transportation Law and the VTL. He also said that he recognizes the bill "contains certain technical defects and ambiguities particularly with regard to its penalty provisions" and that amendments will be sought to cure these problems.
Prior to 1983 Section 207 of the VTL made no reference to the Transportation Law. However, Ch. 890 of Laws of 1983 modified that Section to include a cross reference to Section 14-f of the Transportation Law and the Legislative memorandum states that its purpose is to allow uniform traffic tickets to be used for Transportation Law 14-f violations. This revision also made Section 380 of the VTL superfluous and confusing. Thus, in 1987, pursuant to Ch. 186 of 1987, Section 14-f was once again amended, and VTL 380 was repealed, but no attempt was made to reinsert the former provisions of 14-f which permitted prosecution by means of an STI. According to the memorandum submitted with the bill by the Division of State Police its purpose is to provide for the regulation of the transportation of flammables under the Transportation Law rather than the VTL.
By eliminating VTL Section 380, a violation of the Transportation Law is no longer also a violation of the VTL. The legislature did choose to leave VTL Section 207 as amended in 1983, intact. It is this section which authorizes the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to prescribe the form of summons and complaint in all cases involving a violation of "section fourteen-f" of the Transportation Law. It is based on VTL Section 207 that I now hold that the issuance of the STI adopted by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles is a proper form of instrument for prosecution of a violation of Section 14-f of the Transportation Law.
Reading Section 207 of the VTL in conjunction with Section 90 of the Transportation Law leads to the conclusion that while the VTL provides the mechanism for initiating a proceeding under the Transportation Law, the authority for the proceeding and the governance thereof is found in Sections 90 and 91 of the Transportation Law. These sections provide for an action to recover penalties or forfeitures and a preference for court proceedings, respectively.
In this case, the defendant has been charged with a violation of the Transportation Law and counsel has argued that the STI is defective for failure to give notice of the violations or because, assuming that the violation is of sub-paragraph 3 of 14-f, it is not a violation to have a placard for flammables when there are not inflammables.
Section 14-f, sub-paragraph 1(a) permits the Transportation Commissioner to adopt rules and regulations and Part 507 of the NYCRR contains these regulations.
17 NYCRR Section 507.4 incorporates by specific reference certain provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations and Section 507.10 indicates that the CFR provisions which have been incorporated have been filed in the Office of the Secretary of State of New York.
Our courts have held that incorporation by reference of Federal Regulations into State Regulations is permissible provided said regulations are properly filed. Matter of New York State Coalition of Public Employees v. New York...
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People v. Chiosie, 2005-1498 OR CR
...contention since defendant was fully apprised of the nature of his alleged offense (see People v Miles, 64 NY2d 731 [1984]; People v Scantlebury, 143 Misc 2d 9 [Nassau Dist Ct Transportation Law § 14-f (2) provides: "It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation, company, association, pa......