Opinion
June 4, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Lonschein, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law and as a matter of discretion, without costs or disbursements, the application is denied, and the complaint is reinstated.
The record amply supports the court's determination that the plaintiff engaged in deliberate misconduct by approaching jurors in a courthouse restroom during a recess in the trial and making an improper appeal to their sympathy. Nevertheless, while the imposition of an appropriate sanction may have been warranted (see generally, Judiciary Law §§ 750 Jud., 753 Jud.), the dismissal of the complaint under these circumstances was not authorized (see, Tewari v. Tsoutsouras, 75 N.Y.2d 1, 7; see generally, Matter of A. G. Ship Maintenance Corp. v. Lezak, 69 N.Y.2d 1). Accordingly, the judgment must be reversed and the complaint reinstated.
Sullivan, J. P., Friedmann, Florio and Luciano, JJ., concur.