People v. Snyder
| Decision Date | 09 February 1989 |
| Citation | 73 N.Y.2d 900,536 N.E.2d 614,539 N.Y.S.2d 285 |
| Parties | , 536 N.E.2d 614 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jon SNYDER, Appellant. The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Wayne Rude SNYDER, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The orders of the Appellate Division, 138 A.D.2d 115, 530 N.Y.S.2d 617, should be affirmed.
We agree with the Appellate Division that there was no reasonable view of the evidence under which the jury could have found defendants' possession of the weapon to be innocent. Accordingly, defendants were not entitled to the instructions for temporary lawful possession and cannot now complain about the substance of the court's charge to the jury.
Defendants, two brothers, wrested a loaded pistol from Bruce Van Allen while assaulting him during an altercation outside a bar. They then walked to their nearby home and discussed what to do with the gun. After considering throwing it in a river, burying it, or placing it in a mailbox, they decided to put off the disposition of the gun until the next day. Defendants made no effort to report the incident to the State Police, notwithstanding that the barracks were around the corner from the bar and that the police were at the scene when defendants returned there one-half hour later. Indeed, Wayne Snyder had removed the clip from the gun and placed it under his bed, where it remained until it was retrieved the next morning by the State Police. This evidence is "utterly at odds with [defendants'] claim of innocent possession" (People v. Williams, 50 N.Y.2d 1043, 1045, 431 N.Y.S.2d 698, 409 N.E.2d 1372 "temporarily and incidentally [resulting] from * * * disarming a wrongful possessor" (People v. Persce, 204 N.Y. 397, 402, 97 N.E. 877).
Orders affirmed in a memorandum.
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Rose
...involving situations where a defendant retained possession of a gun until it was found by the police (see People v. Snyder, 73 N.Y.2d 900, 902, 539 N.Y.S.2d 285, 536 N.E.2d 614 ), retained access to the gun after hiding it in a secure location (see People v. Williams, 50 N.Y.2d 1043, 1045, ......
-
People v. Williams
...unlawful possession of the weapon (see e.g. Banks, 76 N.Y.2d at 801, 559 N.Y.S.2d 959, 559 N.E.2d 653 ; People v. Snyder, 73 N.Y.2d 900, 901–902, 539 N.Y.S.2d 285, 536 N.E.2d 614 [1989] ). In such scenarios, "[t]he innocent nature of the possession negates ... the criminal act of possession......
-
People v. Madore
...claim of innocent possession ... temporarily and incidentally [resulting] from ... disarming a wrongful possessor" (People v. Snyder, 73 N.Y.2d 900, 902, 539 N.Y.S.2d 285, 536 N.E.2d 614 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see People v. Robinson, 63 A.D.3d 1634, 1635, 880 N.Y.S.2d 421, lv. ......
-
People v. Patterson
...v. Harmon, 7 A.D.2d 159, 180 N.Y.S.2d 939 [Defendant took weapon from assailant in the course of fight]; Cf. People v. Snyder, 73 N.Y.2d 900, 539 N.Y.S.2d 285, 536 N.E.2d 614 [Charge properly not given even though defendants wrestled gun from complainant during fight as defendants did not r......