From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Messinger

Court of Appeals of the State of New York
Jan 20, 1975
324 N.E.2d 888 (N.Y. 1975)

Opinion

Submitted January 6, 1975

Decided January 20, 1975

Appeal from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Third Judicial Department, LISTON F. COON, J.

W.K. Cuddy, III for appellant.

Gary Lucas, Special District Attorney, for respondent.


MEMORANDUM. The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

The 1970 amendment of section 1192 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law on which appellant relies as superseding section 55.10 (subd. 1, par. [b]) and section 70.00 (subd. 2, par. [e]) of the Penal Law, constituted only an editorial rearrangement and clarification of substantive provisions which had been in the statute continuously since 1929 and during a period prior to that. Thus, while it may be said that there is here a piece of legislative incongruity, there is not presented an occasion for the application of the canon of construction that the Legislature by the adoption of a later, more specific provision may be presumed to have intended to modify or repeal an earlier, more general provision of another statute. Nor is there anything in the legislative history from which any such intention may be inferred in this instance. Indeed, the available evidence is to the contrary (see Memorandum of the Governor on approving L. 1970, ch. 275, 2 McKinney's Session Laws, 1970, p. 3085; cf. General Construction Law, § 101). We note that the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, earlier reached the same conclusion as that of the Third Department, which we now affirm. ( People v. Bouton, 40 A.D.2d 383.)

Chief Judge BREITEL and Judges JASEN, GABRIELLI, JONES, WACHTLER and FUCHSBERG concur; Judge COOKE taking no part.

Order affirmed in a memorandum.


Summaries of

People v. Messinger

Court of Appeals of the State of New York
Jan 20, 1975
324 N.E.2d 888 (N.Y. 1975)
Case details for

People v. Messinger

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. TERRY C. MESSINGER…

Court:Court of Appeals of the State of New York

Date published: Jan 20, 1975

Citations

324 N.E.2d 888 (N.Y. 1975)
324 N.E.2d 888
365 N.Y.S.2d 531

Citing Cases

People v. Yost

In this case, however, where there was no scientific determination of intoxication, the trial court should…

People v. Washington

Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Nassau County, rendered October 8, 1974, convicting…