Summary
In Grillo an indictment was dismissed because of evidence before the Grand Jury of a pistol's inoperability; ballistics reports are explicitly admissible before the Grand Jury under CPL 190.30.
Summary of this case from Matter of Nelson ROpinion
December 4, 1961
Appeal by the People from an order of the County Court, Kings County, dated March 20, 1961, granting defendant's motion for an inspection of the Grand Jury minutes and for dismissal of an indictment charging defendant with violation of section 1897-b of the Penal Law in that he knowingly had in his possession a pistol from which the manufacturer's serial number or part thereof had been removed, defaced or altered. Order affirmed. The County Court held that the instrument was not a pistol within the meaning of said section. The holding was based on the evidence before the Grand Jury which showed that the instrument was incapable of being fired, since its firing pin was broken. In our opinion, in so holding the court properly followed the settled rule that such a defective instrument is not a pistol under section 1897 of the Penal Law. Nolan, P.J., Ughetta, Christ, Pette and Brennan, JJ., concur.