State v. Perretti, s. A--302

• Decision Date: 02 August 1950
• Docket Number: A--308,Nos. A--302,A--313,s. A--302
• Citation: 75 A.2d 151,9 N.J.Super. 97
• Parties: STATE et al. v. PERRETTI (three cases).
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

Page 97

9 N.J.Super. 97

75 A.2d 151

STATE et al. v. PERRETTI (three cases).

Nos. A--302, A--308, A--313.

Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division.

Argued July 17, 1950.

Decided Aug. 2, 1950.

Samuel S. Black, Paterson, argued the cause for appellants.

Joseph A. Murphy, Assistant Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent (Theodore D. Parsons, Attorney General).

Before Judges McGEEHAN, COLIE and EASTWOOD.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

COLIE, J.A.D.

Appellants were arrested and tried before a magistrate on identical complaints charging that on November 2, 1949 each unlawfully procured a resident hunting license contrary to R.S. 23:3--21, N.J.S.A. which provides that 'A person not entitled hereunder to a residents' license who procures the same shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and pay a fine of not less than one hundred dollars and costs of prosecution, and whether or not he has been criminally prosecuted for the violation, shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars.' Before the magistrate, the trials resulted in judgments of dismissal. The State of New Jersey took appeals to the County Court where the matters were tried Do novo, the appellants were found guilty and each sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and costs.

R.S. 23:3--4, N.J.S.A., provides for residents' and nonresidents' licenses and sets the qualifications for the former that one be a citizen of the United States above fourteen years of age, who is an 'actual and bona fide' resident of the State at the time of application for the license and who has been an actual and bona fide resident of the State for at least one year immediately prior thereto. The vital question is whether the appellants were 'actual and bona fide residents' of New Jersey.

The State proved that Joseph John Perretti, Sr., and Arthur Perretti were registered voters in New York State and gave their address as 1720 West Third Street, Brooklyn; that all three held chauffeurs' licenses issued in New York and upon which the same address appeared. In addition there was the testimony of Warden Williams that in his opinion the house occupied by the Perrettis was 'a summer bungalow uninhabitable in winter.' This conclusion was arrived at after an inspection of the living-room while the witness was standing in the doorway and without any knowledge beyond what he saw from the single observation. On behalf of the defendants there was undisputed testimony that the property had been owned by Katherine Perretti for three or four years, that it contained all their furniture, that it consisted of a sun-porch, living room, kitchen, bath and two bedrooms, and that it had a hot-air furnace in the cellar. A nearby neighbor testified that she first met the Perrettis in July 1948 and saw them living in the house each month thereafter until November 1949 when they went to Brooklyn because of the illness of Mrs. Perretti's mother....