Thompson v. Scavo

Decision Date23 April 1959
PartiesComplaint of Shirley THOMPSON, Complainant-Respondent, v. John SCAVO, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Arthur B. Lanphier, Albany, for appellant.

Quentin E. Grant, Dist. Atty., Oneonta, for respondent.

Before FOSTER, P. J., and BERGAN, COON, GIBSON and REYNOLDS, JJ.

MEMORANDUM DECISION.

This is an appeal from a final order of filiation granted on the 19th day of April, 1950 by the Children's Court of Otsego County. The delay of approximately nine years in perfecting this appeal, and arguing the same, is extraordinary, for which no adequate explanation has been given by either party.

The testimony in the case follows a pattern that it oft repeated in this type of case. Complainant testified that she had sexual intercourse with the appellant during the months of February and March of 1948. She gave birth to a baby on November 23, 1948 which apparently followed a full period of gestation. Complainant also testified that she did not have sexual relations with any other man during the period mentioned. Appellant admitted to having intercourse with complainant but swore he ceased going out with her around the middle of January, 1948, when he began to keep company with his present wife. Defendant made some attempt to link complainant up with another man but the latter swore that he had no sexual relations with complainant during the months of January, February and March of 1948. Also in this connection a blood grouping test excluded this other man as the father of the child. The case simmers down to an issue of credibility. The parties and all the witnesses, except the doctor who made the blood tests, were somewhat tarnished, and we would hesitate very much to disturb the judgment of the Judge who saw and heard them on the stand.

As his first point appellant advances the rather startling argument that reversible error was committed because the prosecution was directed by the District Attorney under a resolution of the Board of Supervisors authorizing him to prosecute all cases in Otsego County relating to children born out of wedlock. This argument is utterly irrelevant so far as the appellant is concerned, and none of the cases cited by him are at all analogous to his point. If the Board of Supervisors exceeded its authority it may be that a taxpayer might restrain the payment of any fees to the District Attorney but certainly the proceeding was not...

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4 cases
  • Huntingdon v. Crowley
    • United States
    • California Supreme Court
    • May 25, 1966
    ...admitted both in California courts (Foster v. Gray (1962) 203 Cal.App.2d 434, 436, 21 Cal.Rptr. 429) and elsewhere (Thompson v. Scavo (1959) 8 A.D.2d 652, 185 N.Y.S.2d 47). In any event, it bears repeating that a request for an order to take blood tests must be timely. Section 1980.3 specif......
  • Zarillo v. State, 33339
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • April 23, 1959
  • Thompson v. Scavo
    • United States
    • New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • October 23, 1959
    ...v. John SCAVO, Appellant. Court of Appeals of New York. Oct. 23, 1959. Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, 8 A.D.2d 652, 185 N.Y.S2d The Children's Court of Otsego County, Molinari, J., entered final order of filiation, and the defendant appealed. The Appellate ......
  • Thompson v. Scavo
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • June 16, 1959
    ...Division, Third Department. June 16, 1959. Motion for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeals denied, without costs. 8 A.D.2d 652, 185 N.Y.S.2d 47. ...

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