Summary
In People v. Christensen (19 A.D.2d 535, supra) the court reversed a conviction under subdivision (f) of section 306, and held that an attempt to transfer a license of an official inspection station applied only to the transferor, apparently under the language "who shall transfer or attempt to transfer a license as an official inspection station".
Summary of this case from People v. ConrowOpinion
May 6, 1963
Defendant appeals from a judgment of the former Court of Special Sessions of the City of New York, Borough of Richmond, rendered June 13, 1962 after trial, convicting him of a misdemeanor for an attempt to transfer a license of an official inspection station in violation of subdivision (f) of section 306 Veh. Traf. of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, and suspending sentence. Judgment reversed on the law, and information dismissed. The facts are affirmed. The statute claimed to have been violated is in the nature of malum prohibitum. As a penal statute, its provisions must be strictly construed ( People v. Shakun, 251 N.Y. 107, 113). Hence, the statute must be deemed to apply only to the transferor of the license, and not to the transferee ( Baker v. Fifth Ave. Bank of New York, 225 App. Div. 238, 240; O'Hagan v. Kracke, 165 Misc. 4, 13, affd. 253 App. Div. 632, motion for leave to appeal denied 278 N.Y. 741). Ughetta, Acting P.J., Kleinfeld, Brennan, Rabin and Hopkins, JJ., concur.