Opinion
15657 Index No. 153614/20 Case No. 2021–03997
04-05-2022
Manna LU–WONG etc., Plaintiff–Appellant, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK et al., Defendants–Respondents, Glen Pusey, Defendant.
Hogan & Cassell, LLP, Jericho (Michael Cassell of counsel), for appellant. Georgia M. Pestana, Corporation Counsel, New York (Kate Fletcher of counsel), for respondents.
Hogan & Cassell, LLP, Jericho (Michael Cassell of counsel), for appellant.
Georgia M. Pestana, Corporation Counsel, New York (Kate Fletcher of counsel), for respondents.
Gische, J.P., Moulton, Scarpulla, Shulman, Pitt, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Dakota D. Ramseur, J.), entered September 30, 2021, which, to the extent appealed from, denied plaintiff's motion to compel defendants to produce defendant Glen Pusey's criminal records pertaining to the unclassified misdemeanor to which he pled guilty following the accident, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs and the motion granted.
This action arises from a motor vehicle accident in which a vehicle operated by Pusey and owned by defendants the City of New York (the City) and the New York City Department of Sanitation (together, the City defendants), struck pedestrian Hon Wing Lu while he was crossing an intersection. Following an investigation by the New York City Police Department, Pusey was arrested, charged, and subsequently pled guilty to Administrative Code of City of N.Y. § 19–190(b), an unclassified misdemeanor, and to Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1146(c)(1), a traffic violation, for failing to yield to Lu and causing him injury. Plaintiff, individually, and as the Administrator for the Estate of Hon Wing Lu, now seeks the records pertaining to Pusey's unclassified misdemeanor. The City defendants argue that these records are not discoverable because they overlap with Pusey's traffic infraction records, which are sealed pursuant to CPL 160.55.
Under CPL 160.55, all records and papers relating to the arrest or prosecution of an individual convicted of a traffic infraction or violation, following a criminal action or proceeding, shall be sealed and not made available to any person or public or private agency (see CPL 160.55[1][c] ; People v. F.B., 155 A.D.3d 1, 4–5, 63 N.Y.S.3d 314 [1st Dept. 2017], lv denied 30 N.Y.3d 911, 2018 WL 827337 [2018] ). Plaintiff is entitled to Pusey's records pertaining to his unclassified misdemeanor, as the records are not subject to CPL 160.55, and it does not appear that they were sealed (see e.g. Matter of Rodriguez v. Parker, 38 A.D.3d 1021, 830 N.Y.S.2d 865 [3d Dept. 2007], lv denied 8 N.Y.3d 816, 839 N.Y.S.2d 455, 870 N.E.2d 696 [2007] ). To the extent these records contain references or information related solely to Pusey's sealed traffic violation case, the City must redact or remove it from its production.